The USC Institute for Creative Technologies, a unit of the Viterbi School of Engineering, and Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), sponsored by the US Army, is pleased to announce that USC has signed a license agreement with SoldierStrong regarding Battle Buddy for Suicide Prevention, an AI-driven mobile health (mHealth) application tailored exclusively for Veterans.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), over 6,000 Veterans die by suicide each year. This is approximately 17 lives lost every day. In response to this crisis, the VA launched Mission Daybreak, a $20 million initiative aimed at reducing Veteran suicides. Battle Buddy was selected as a key innovation in Mission Daybreak and awarded $1 million to further its research.
ICT then led a year of intensive technical development, during which the app became the subject of multiple academic papers, one of which, detailing Battle Buddy’s design methodology, was nominated for Best Paper at ICDVRAT 2024, a premier conference focused on virtual rehabilitation technologies. Battle Buddy also received the Best Technical Demonstration award at the 2023 International Conference on Persuasive Technology, a leading event at the intersection of computer science and psychology.
This new license deal, facilitated by the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, the university’s technology transfer office, enables SoldierStrong to create custom Battle Buddy modules for iOS, with optional use of wearable technologies (e.g., Apple Watch, Garmin) and interactive intelligent agents. The Battle Buddy technology leverages the Rapid Integration & Development Environment (RIDE) real-time prototyping platform, developed at USC ICT and included in the license to SoldierStrong.
Sharon Mozgai, Director, Virtual Human Therapeutics Lab, ICT, and Project Leader, Battle Buddy (alongside ICT researchers Arno Hartholt and Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo) said: “Battle Buddy provides Veterans with structured steps to navigate crises and fosters a sense of preparedness. Beyond offering immediate, scalable assistance, it serves as a compassionate bridge to live, human connection, linking Veterans to the essential support they deserve.”
SoldierStrong is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to assist America’s military veterans in taking their next steps forward in life after service through the donation of revolutionary medical technologies to Veterans Affairs medical centers and individual veterans across the country. These technologies include wearable robotic exoskeletons to help paralyzed and injured veterans walk again and the BraveMind virtual reality system to treat post-9/11 veterans living with post-traumatic stress (PTS), among several other technologies. Since 2013, SoldierStrong has proudly donated $5.5 million in technology to help injured veterans.
“Addressing the crisis of veterans taking their own lives requires more than recognizing, acknowledging, and even investing in prevention efforts.” said Dr. Chris Meek, SoldierStrong Co-Founder and Chairman. “Solutions will come through innovative approaches that are only possible through relationships that share valuable information and capitalize on each partner’s strengths. Effectively leveraging real-time data via easy-to-implement technology will significantly enhance individual wellbeing and aid efforts to reduce the overall number of suicides.”
Driven by the collaboration between USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies and SoldierStrong, the next stage in Battle Buddy’s research and development, will focus on advancing efficacy, ensuring rigorous safety standards, and maintaining a veteran-centric design approach.
Together, the partnership will enhance Battle Buddy’s capabilities by integrating advanced safety protocols, expanding user feedback systems, and conducting comprehensive efficacy evaluations. These efforts will ensure that the application not only provides real-time Virtual Human support but also connects Veterans to meaningful, personalized care while addressing their unique needs.
“Working with such an exceptional partner as the University of Southern California Institute of Creative Technologies to create a life-changing – and lifesaving – breakthrough of this scope is one of the very reasons SoldierStrong was founded,” said Chris Meek, from SoldierStrong.
“This agreement allows us to evolve the prototype and expand our reach, connecting with Veterans not currently engaged with the VA—whether they’re transitioning from active duty, younger Veterans, or those in rural and frontier areas facing barriers to care,” said Sharon Mozgai, Director of ICT’s Virtual Human Therapeutics Lab.
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