(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A determined pair of brothers embarked on a mission to help their dad who developed macular degeneration, and the OcuLenz was born, using pixel manipulation to fill in the missing viewpoints.

“My brother and I founded the company,” CEO and CTO of Ocutrx, Michael Freeman, said. “Our father was a brigadier general fighter pilot in the Air Force, ran several businesses, computer business… we grew up building computers. He developed macular degeneration… and he had the vision that augmented reality technology could help us correct for his vision loss.”

Freeman’s father served as an inspiration for the creation and the success of this lightweight headset. Evidently, Freeman shared the positive feedback from clinical trials with several people, who became emotional.

“People are crying,” Freeman said. “They’re saying, ‘I’ve got to take this home with me today.’ They’re saying, ‘This is so great, I’ll be able to sit at my granddaughter’s bed and read to her again because I’ll be able to read’ and so basically, it gives the ability to read and see faces, play cards, be active to people that have lost their sense of vision.”

What once was lost in their sight, now can be found thanks to the OcuLenz. Beyond helping those with moderate to severe age-related macular degeneration, this technology is also designed to help surgeons.

“It also is for surgeons, so they don’t have to crane up over an optical microscope,” Freeman said. “They can wear the headset and get a 3D video, wireless video feed to the headset so they can do surgery and be comfortable and not have to have surgery themselves.”

OcuLenz was announced the 2023 Runner Up for the Coolest Thing Made in Colorado by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.

OcuLenz was even announced as one of the Coolest Things Made in Colorado by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.

When it comes to the assembly of this headset, it’s a lot more complex than it looks.

“There’s about 400 parts in the headset, about 200 of them go on all the circuit boards, and then there’s still over 200 parts that they’re putting together right now,” Freeman explained.

One of the crew members working on the OcuLenz was Dillon Cornell, who shared from start to finish, building the complete product takes around two hours.

Able to enhance someone’s sight, the OcuLenz is an example of what is in store for the future of technology.

“It’s amazing being able to use high-end gaming technology that’s been pushed over the years and actually find an application where it’s helping people, giving people the ability to read and see again,” Cornell said.

Around 400 parts are used to build the OcuLenz which takes around two hours to complete from start to finish.

Freeman explained the growing number of people who have macular degeneration and the need for this powerful tool to help those suffering.

“It’s actually exciting to see the patients realize something they’ve lost,” Freeman said. “They can gain back with this correction that we give them through the headset. It’s also exciting for the surgeons because the surgeons tell us that this is such a devastating disease that people say, ‘I’m going to kill myself if you don’t figure out something to solve it’.”

As for when this product could be in the hands of customers, Freeman said they are hoping to be distributing them by 2024 and are working on certification to be sold internationally in Europe and the United Kingdom.

“We’ve got preorders off our website with people waiting for these headsets,” Freeman said. Then we’ll be in low-vision centers, and you can order online from our website at Ocutrxtech.com.”

On Monday afternoon, a team worked away on the OcuLenz to show the assembly process.

To join the waitlist and learn about the impact of the company, visit their website here.

At the end of the day, these employees are realizing the transformative impact they are having on so many thanks to the power of futuristic technology.

“It’s amazing seeing how technology can advance in ways that help people as we’re able to get people back into work,’ Cornell said. “[Also,] able to continue to work longer and be able to be lasting memories in their families, being able to go to family events and see what’s going on and actually be a part of the family longer and being able to have the generational connections longer.”