Available in recent weeks throughout the Optic 2000 network, Ellcie Healthy’s smartglasses have not gone unnoticed by investors. The company just completed its initial capital raise of €2.7 million from Région Sud Investissement, Sygma, bpifrance, and several business angels. Loaded with sensors, in the arms and on the front of the frames, these eyeglasses, baptised “Prudensee”, aim to prevent drivers from falling asleep at the wheel using an alert system, both audible and visual via integrated LEDs. “This is only one of the use cases we plan to offer with our smartglasses, other developments are also underway,” explains Philippe Peyrard, who founded Ellcie Healthy in 2016, in Nice.
This optical professional, former General Manager of Atol, is convinced of the potential of artificial intelligence. Thus, he recruited a team of engineers to develop algorithms and create new uses.
New uses. In partnership with several research laboratories in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, including Inria, the Laboratory of electronics, antennas and telecommunications (LEAT), and the Laboratory for human motor function and expertise in sports health (Lamhess), Ellcie Healthy is exploring many different avenues. These include preventing falls for the elderly and those working alone, as well as sensory compensation to help the visually impaired make progress and feel safer. Initially, to market its smartglasses the company will focus on partnerships with large key accounts.
Certain examples are the insurance companies, such as Generali, who are interested in prevention, and manufacturers, such as Total, seeking to better protect its sales staff when out on the road. With this funding, Philippe Peyrard entrusted the manufacturing to French companies, he will expand his team of AI specialists, and focus on exports by first targeting New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
Les Echos weekend 7, 8, and 9 June – by Christiane Navas – Correspondent in Nice