Alma’s InvoTek Part of $5M Research Project

Alma research and development company InvoTek is one of four organizations partnering on a project to help improve the ability of those with physical disabilities communicate using technology.

InvoTek and its partners will receive $5 million over five years from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The project will entail developing communication tools including signs, communication books, speech-generating devices, computers and mobile technologies, according to an InvoTek news release.

InvoTek’s research partners on the project are Pennsylvania State University; Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska; and Oregon Health and Science University, all considered leaders in the field of augmentative and alternative communications (AAC).

“This grant is further recognition of InvoTek’s leadership in translating clinical outcomes into commercially available technologies that improve the quality of life for people with disabilities,” said Steve Stanley, senior manager of the Science and Technology Division of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. “And, it reinforces our message that Arkansas firms have global impacts.”

InvoTek, which specializes in creating and applying technology to the needs of people with severe disabilities, was founded in 1988 and was one of the first startups affiliated with the Innovate Arkansas program. It has received $5.4 million in federal research grants since its founding. 

InvoTek is also a founding sponsor of Be Extraordinary, a nonprofit that helps people with severe disabilities accomplish a life goal.