Redefining Limits: How Digital Transformation is Empowering Innovators and Changing Lives

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How can technology improve our everyday lives? In our latest episode of The Third Angle podcast, we look?back to highlight the groundbreaking companies making the world a better place, one product at a time.?

Helping the DeafBlind Communicate

We kick off in Boston with Tatum Robotics, a start-up offering life-changing technology for the DeafBlind community.?In March, our producer,?Curt Nickish,met up with co-founder Samantha Johnson at their Boston?headquarters?to talk about the T1 Fingerspelling Hand, the robotic hand designed to communicate with deaf-blind people through tactile signing.?

“I try to describe and let them feel it. That’s always the first step. They run their hands down the front, feel the buttons, understand what’s in front of them.”

Samantha?showed us?the amazing tendon-driven system, designed specifically to achieve the complex hand shapes of American Sign Language.?Reception?of the T1?has been positive?and?the companies’ sights?are?set firmly on the future.

“When I was doing this as my master’s thesis, the deafblind people we were working with through the Deafblind Contact Centre here in Boston were really encouraging me. They said: ‘You have to start a company with this, you need to commercialise it because you haven’t helped us yet.’”

Tatum Robotics relies on PTC’s Onshape.

Tackling Health Problems Through your Eyes

Next, we journey to Reading in the UK, the home of Occuity.?Last year we heard from the company’s?head of marketing.?Richard Kadri-Langford.?and design engineer,?Jamie Serjant, as they showed us the innovative tech they’re developing to tackle some big health problems, all through analysing the human eye.

“We know that as soon as we come through those doors…we’re going to be working on technologies that no one has done before, we’re going to be working on devices that don’t exist yet.”

Occuity’s work goes beyond mere convenience; it aims to save countless lives and improve countless others by making healthcare more accessible and less intrusive. In the future, they hope their technology can measure many more things about patients, and they’re already having discussions around Alzheimer’s, sepsis, and potentially even cholesterol levels.

“I think the future of medicine is already going in the direction of being patient led. We get better patient outcomes with devices that are designed with patients in mind.”

Occuity relies on PTC’s Onshape.

Perfecting Comfort with Eight Sleep: Turning Dreams into Reality

Our next stop brings us to Eight Sleep in San Francisco, where?how we rest is being revolutionized by?the Pod 4. This advanced bed adjusts temperatures independently on each side, providing personalized comfort and ensuring a better night's sleep. Harry Xiao from Eight Sleep explains:?

“Often you sleep with a partner. And then you're fighting?about comfort, because?one wants it really warm…or one wants it really cool.”

The innovation at Eight Sleep isn’t just about comfort; it's about improving overall health and wellness. Eight Sleep’s products are currently used by professional?athletes and top performers across multiple industries.

“It's the feeling?of being?so much more refreshed or it's like?‘Hey, I feel great because I've had good sleep’?or?‘Hey, I feel so much better about my day because I have good sleep.’?And to me, that outcome is just…so much more meaningful than just a bunch of numbers on a page.”

Eight Sleep relies on PTC’s Arena.

Want to dive deeper into these tales of innovation? Listen to the full episode:

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About The Third Angle:

Companies that make products the world relies on, rely on PTC and The Third Angle is a podcast series that dives deep into these products, and meets the people being them. Hosted by PTC’s Paul Haimes, we explore the confluence of technology and creativity, and the brilliant minds that make it all possible.

To hear more fascinating stories and get up close and personal to some groundbreaking products, check out and follow the podcast on?Apple Podcasts,?Spotify, or?YouTube?(also available in all other podcast apps, you can even ask Alexa!).