Point Motion Brings Unique Health Assessment Tool to New Winston-Salem HQ
Point Motion, a new Winston-Salem digital health company founded by a jazz musician, is using the music of movement to detect and monitor changes in wellbeing.
Just as “creaky bones” are often cited as a sign of aging, Point Motion’s software converts video-tracked movement into musical tones to help track the progress of children with special needs.
Point Motion recently moved its headquarters to North Carolina from Boston after closing a round of seed funding from David Mounts, CEO and chairman of Winston-Salem healthcare consulting firm Inmar Inc. The company did not disclose terms of the funding.
CEO and founder Kevin Clark says he was impressed with the supportive entrepreneurial culture and lower costs involved in building a business in North Carolina compared to the costs of starting a business in Boston. After several visits to the state, he found an ideal location in the startup incubator Winston Starts, at 500 W. 5th Street.
Location includes mentoring, other amenities
The new location also gives the company access to mentorship and acceleration resources, he said. Clark graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston with a degree in jazz composition and film scoring. Bryan Arkwright, a health system administrator and digital health consultant from Charlotte, serves as chief operating officer. Clark’s wife, Imen Maaroufi Clark, is marketing director.
“We saw an opportunity to grow alongside the Winston-Salem community,” said Clark. “Starting with our first interaction here, we’ve found this continues to be a collaborative and welcoming atmosphere for startups. We are here to partake in the ecosystem and to contribute to the community’s reputation as the City of Arts and Innovation.”
Nancy Johnston, executive director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Piedmont Triad Office, said Point Motion brings a fresh new example of the ongoing convergence of digital technologies and healthcare.
“We’re delighted that this dynamic young team has found a home in Winston-Salem, where creativity and science can thrive together,” she said.
A musical tool, for a quantified outcome
While many healthcare assessments are currently done one-on-one, that limits the number of children who can be treated. Point Motion says its motion-capture technology offers a more-efficient tool, allowing children to play music-based games and creating sounds as they move their bodies.
The company’s proprietary tech platform measures the movements and collects data using an algorithm that can interpret various aspects of the children’s cognitive and motor functions. That information is then shared with the children’s doctors and guardians.
“This unique approach to assessing child development has tremendous potential to improve quality of life, helping doctors understand their patients’ development on an unprecedented level,” said Clark.
He noted that Point Motion’s music-based data collection tool was well received when it was piloted at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bayside, New York.
“Our interdisciplinary team has been impressed first and foremost with the music therapy base of this software, as formal and informal music therapy services are the cornerstone of many of our interventions,” said Clinical Psychologist Dawn Cuglietto, assistant vice president for strategic planning & innovation at St. Mary’s.
“The fact that this company has invested so much into data analysis and made robust outcome assessment a primary component, makes them far advanced relative to all similar products that have been demonstrated to us.”
Clark says even though Point Motion is initially working with children’s developmental analysis, the company will continue developing its system of computerized cameras and software to detect movement disorders in people of all ages with autism, Parkinson's and other disorders, and even to monitor for concussion.