Gravitonus Workstation

Achievement

Birth trauma took her hands. It wasn’t going to take her life. For Eugene, it meant a ten-year fight. On that day in April 2007, Eugene felt her hour of triumph when she was honored with a 2nd prize award at Imagineup Global competition finals in Moscow. She is the very active member of Gravitonus team. During this prestigious competition she was using ACCS device and the ACCS ToolKit software with the presentation computer and virtually leaded the demonstration of e-learning innovations for handicapped people by Gravitonus. Dr. Kosik and company’s CIO Taras had no other option other than to act like simple assistants during her presentation and then join the audience of 1000, charmed by her skills, in rising in applause.

Alex Kosik: “The biggest market of the future - according to Sir David Puttnam, UK President of UNICEF - will be the education industry. Children and adults with quadriplegia not only have the right to an education, they have the right to be part of the mainstream education system. However, they are limited in their physical capabilities. A person with quadriplegia has the same desires as a healthy individual - to work, to amuse himself, to communicate with his friends and to get education - but is severely limited in the means to achieve them. In support of those fighting illnesses like quadriplegia, ALS and myodistrophia, we’re committing all of our energies and resources to fighting the effects of the serious diseases. ImagineCup 2007 is empowering the creation of software educational technologies and our award is the best demonstration of importance of distant education accessibility for handicapped people. The ultimate goal of ACCS Toolkit is to provide a transparent user interface, so that quadriplegics, who cannot use their hands to control PC, could focus on their activities and not on the interaction with hardware input device and software interface, created for a healthy person initially. Basically, it allows a person to get education, find a good job, and become self-sustainable.”

Inspiration

For more than 5 years, I was an orthopedist in the field of Spinal Cord Injury research and treatment, helping handicapped people to eliminate the distinction between disability and active life. And at some point I realized that it’s possible to help larger audience as an entrepreneur other than just being a surgeon. I started the Gravitonus venture with my brother Taras, who inspired me with the intent to restore independence and provide hope to the disabled using our technologies. A person who has got an irreversible trauma of the spinal cord at the cervical spine, draws the line that divides his or her life in two parts: the life before the trauma and the life after it. After the trauma, he or she becomes disabled, with mental anguish and physical pain. There are no technologies that allow restoring the anatomic integrity of human spinal cord nowadays, nor are there any coming in the foreseeable future. ACCS technology and the first accessible social network - LiveTonus have potential far exceeding that of a simple alternative input device for handicapped. They offer handicapped users control of all aspects of their environment, socialization, communications, entertainment, and productivity. This includes regaining the ability to work, to have gainful employment and to be creative. It vastly improves access and control of one’s comforts, and networking needs independent of caregivers. LiveTonus took the context advertisement model to get profitable offering a groundbreaking opportunity of reaching target audience for healthcare providers and accessibility equipment manufacturers. My path has led me to find what I truly enjoy. My true passion is public speaking and leading entrepreneurs through coaching and mentoring. I believe in coaching, not managing. Technology entrepreneurship strategy is an evolving part of society. Everyday, the manner in which people respond to stimuli is changing. Old practices continually have to give way to new principles and personalities.

Insight

Gravitonus is a diversified startup with three distinct business operations in hardware solutions, software development and Social Network. It’s very important for me as a President to have the ability to stay on top of details and it’s central to Gravitonus business. In October 2007, we invested in Intel based Sony UX UMPC* laptops to become more responsive to our clients and gain access to important corporate data. It has made a difference to the way Gravitonus operates, improving access to communications on-the-go, sharing wireless calendar to improve efficiency, replace cell phones for overseas calls through VoIP for traveling users, get access to corporate data and improve productivity, and just to keep people in touch. Gravitonus is not an average accessibility hardware development firm. The projects we create are as diverse, as they are complex. Ergonomic solutions for gamers, ergonomic furniture, alternative input devices, accessibility software for a wide range of severely disabled and a social network. Our business spans the U.S. and international markets such as Russia and Europe. “My first objective was giving our people online, immediate access to their calendars and email,” says Taras Kosik, CIO Gravitonus. “Our project managers were having a lot of trouble accessing information from their older laptops. Intel® Core™ Solo processor U1300 with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology allowed to work far from plug without worrying too much about working hours. This UMPCs have WAN and LAN, not to mention WiFi. The built-in EDGE supports VoIP communication, and it means that, wherever there is a signal, the project managers can stay in touch with GMs, researchers, and clients to ensure that projects run smoothly. The solution offers wireless synchronization, so everyone is assured of being up-to-date at all times.”

Dream

I wish that at some point in the future, technology for spinal cord regeneration leading to the absence of functional disorders would be created and become available. My dream and social position is to encourage these developments, though medical experts agree that there are no grounds for such great advances in medicine for a 10 more years as even if some innovations in spinal cord cure are developed, they will require years for testing and introduction to practical medicine. Until then, I’d like to see that our solutions become available to as many handicapped people as possible and allow them an opportunity to regain the ability to work, to have gainful employment and to be creative.

Alex Kosik uses a system powered by

Intel® Processors