Amy Hedrick: Cleanbox’s Hygiene Product Line
Faaizah Arshad and Jessica Hagen speak with Amy Hedrick, CEO and cofounder of Cleanbox Technology, about the development of hygiene products for sanitizing XR and immersive devices, and the worldwide applications of these products in various industries.
BIO
Amy Hedrick is the CEO and cofounder of Cleanbox Technology. Her strategy for building a thriving business by solving a real-world problem, and her vision for creating a global impact brand with reach across multiple industries, has grown the company from an idea to a multimillion-dollar global business in three years. Hedrick’s execution of the company’s vision has established Cleanbox as a brand trusted by its many Fortune clients. Hedrick is a thought leader in the applications of immersive technology as industry disruptors and brings innovation ideas and new market opportunities to Cleanbox’s smart tech hygiene product lines. She has led multiple teams from project inception and funding, to planning and execution, proving herself an effective leader in multiple industries over the past decade.
The following is a transcript of the episode:
Faaizah Arshad
Hello and welcome back to Psychiatry XR. We aim to inspire worldwide conversations around the use of extended reality in psychiatric care. I'm your host for this episode Faaizah Arshad. I'm very excited to be joined by Psychiatry XR’s cofounder, Jessica Hagen.
Jessica Hagen
Hi Faaizah thrilled to join you today.
Faaizah Arshad
Same here, Jessica. I'm really excited for this episode. So today we are really delighted to welcome Amy Hedrick, the chief executive officer and cofounder of Cleanbox Technology. Her strategy for building a thriving business by solving a real-world problem and her vision for creating a global impact brand with reach across multiple industries has grown the company from just an idea to a multi-million dollar global business in three years. Hedrick’s execution of the company's vision has established Cleanbox as a brand trusted by its many Fortune clients. Hedrick is a thought leader in the applications of immersive technology as industry disruptors, and brings innovation ideas and new market opportunities to Cleanbox’s smart tech hygiene product lines. She has led multiple teams from project inception and funding to planning and execution, proving herself an effective leader in multiple industries over the past decade. Thank you very much for joining us, Amy.
Amy Hedrick
Thank you, Faaizah. Thank you, Jessica. It's wonderful to be here. I feel privileged to be here chatting with the two of you. And I absolutely love the introduction describing what you guys are focused on. I think it's fantastic. So I look forward to listening to other guests that you have on future episodes.
Faaizah Arshad
Thank you. So Amy, over the past few years virtual and augmented reality products have become increasingly important in patient care. And we've seen that this rise in the use of immersive technologies has overlapped with the pandemic period where people are really concerned about surface exposure and sanitation. And many of us have put on a headset, and it's touching our face, it's touching our skin. And so it's different from a computer or a television remote. That is mainly touching your hands or fingers only. So can you tell us about the purpose of Cleanbox Technology and the solutions that your company has come up with for improving technology use associated hygiene?
Amy Hedrick
Yes, absolutely. Well, first of all, I'm a very big believer in the use of immersive technology for a wide range of applications. And I think healthcare broadly is one of the most exciting because there are so many things that you can do with this technology. When I looked at the industry as a whole, I saw there was a big gap with a focus on that content creation, and then a gap between thinking about how to actually take that technology and scale it and have people adopt it in a way that they really could use that tech almost as a second skin. And like you mentioned, these VR headsets or AR headsets, immersive tech headsets are very personal. They sit on your skin, on your face, close to your eyes, nose, mouth. So you're correct. They're very different than other shared devices or other even just, you know, electronics that we might use on a regular basis. And thinking about that early on was really why I, you know, we built Cleanbox and being able to decontaminate those electronics with with different types of materials. There aren't a lot of ways to do that. You can't really expose them to chemicals or heat. You can't really get them wet— their electronics, and they're not cheap. And also, you know, you have to think about the different types of surfaces. So what is a way that we can solve this problem and really prevent people from not wanting to put that headset on. So if you have a headset and someone else has been using it, or even if you've just been using it for an extended amount of time yourself, we all know that when we put it on, even if we don't normally sweat a lot, we're going to sweat a little bit. And that can, even if I have my own headset on, then I take it off and put it back on, if I sweat in it at all, there's still that gross, that gross factor, even just for me. Now, we're not quite at the point where we have a one-to-one ratio in terms of headset users and healthcare applications. But really Cleanbox is designed and its entire purpose is to solve that problem. So what we use is we have patented UVC technology. We use UVC and LEDs and our products are designed specifically to decontaminate headsets. All of our targeted surfaces, so anything that if I put a headset on take it off, put it through a Cleanbox and you put it on, you can do that knowing that let's just say I was sick, maybe I wouldn't, I didn't know it, I put that headset on and you put it on, you would be able to do that in a way that you had mitigated your risk on the business side. But also you felt safe and confident that you could do so. So all of our products are decontaminated to log 5 99.99% in 60 seconds. And that's, that's a core of our business.
Faaizah Arshad
And I totally agree like headsets and VR accessories are, are even being deployed worldwide. So it's so important to take those precautions for safety. But can you elaborate on what that decontamination process looks like. What factors, you've mentioned UVC. And maybe something with timing like the 60 seconds, but what factors are included in the product to eliminate contagions?
Amy Hedrick
Sure, so all of our engineering is UVC based. And all of our products designed for headsets also dry the headset. So for the decontamination side, we use patented UVC LED engineering. And basically that means we don't use mercury bulbs or any other kind of bulb in our UVC light. We use LEDs. And because of that, we get to choose our wavelength of light. We work in the 265 to 275 nanometer wavelength. So for those of you who are familiar with wavelengths of UV light, and we and we do that and all of our products have an overlap in radius of light. So why that matters is we want to make sure that whatever services that we're targeting, we have equal coverage. We have equal consistent reliable coverage, and have it in a way that you know, there's enough length of time, there's no warm up for you know, bulbs, for example, there's, there's no warmup time required, every single time you put a headset in push the button, run the cycle, it does the exact same thing every time. So you're not subject to those elements of human error that are intrinsic to manual cleaning. And you also don't have to, you know, if you wanted to wipe out the outside of the headset, that's very different than saying, Okay, I need to make sure that this part has, you know, we've cleaned everything off and it's decontaminated, we got in all the little nooks and crannies. If something is sitting on someone's eye, and they don't realize it, and you think you cleaned it, but you but you really didn't, that's a risk factor. So that's what we do. In terms of our UVC process, our cumulative dosage is such that it is not harmful for the headsets on any of those materials. We've tested it. And we've done independent testing, not only on our efficacy, but on our impact on everything from plastics and various polymers to OLEDs and, and other types of fabrics and materials. And then at the same time, so 60 seconds, we reach 99.999% decontamination. And then another thing that I think is really important in Cleanbox products in our CX series, which is designed for HMDs is that we dry the headsets. Then there are two ways that we help with that process. Well one, of course is we have fans inside. They’re high velocity fans, and then they during the course of those 60 seconds, they dry the headset. And if there's anything on there such as hair or other detritus or anything, dust, whatever it might be in the air, it blows it off. We also provide hydrophobic nano coating. And what it does, it's a water-based spray. So water-based nano coating is for those headsets that have fabric. So there for a while there were a lot of headsets that had fabric and some came out, and now we've kind of switched away from fabric. But there are a lot of headsets back on the market now that still have fabric. So fabric of course soaks up anything. If it's wet, if it's body oils, any of those things that kind of cause that gross factor. And this, what this does is you basically just spray it on the fabric once and let it dry, and that surface becomes hydrophobic. So it keeps that moisture at the surface of that headset, so it's a lot easier to dry. And then of course, once you do that it lasts for months and months. And then you can always add more after you know, if you're using your headset 1000 times a day, after a couple of months, you can just do it again. And it's completely safe. That part doesn't do any decontaminating, but it does prevent moistures from both soaking in and having that gross factor and building up and potentially impacting electronics.
Jessica Hagen
That's really interesting that you'd mentioned if you're using wipes, it's really going to damage the product, right like that is going to bring some wear and tear to the product. So you said that Cleanbox doesn't actually cause any wear and tear on the headsets?
Amy Hedrick
Yes, absolutely. And you're right when you have a wipe like that, for example, those chemicals. I think for most of the manufacturers, they they don't recommend that you use those types of harsh chemicals. And there are a lot of reasons for that. But one any kind of decontaminating wipe that you use, you have to leave that surface wet for two to four minutes depending on what that product is, in order to have any real efficacy whatsoever. And of course, as we all know, you can't really do that to fabrics. You can't do that to those lenses. And even on a hard surface I can tell you from practical experience most people just don't do that. And also you have the impact environmental impact of those disposables. A Cleanbox helps in a lot of ways. That was really always the goal of a company— how can we do this in a way that has the least environmental impact, the most continuous, repeatable, you know, reliable results. And that's what we've done. So you're correct. We've, We've tested on plastics, we tested on materials, we don't use any chemicals in our products. There's also no heat, which is an important thing to consider when you're looking at electronics, and other, you know, plastics and so on. And of course, the wavelength of light that we operate at, does not emit ozone. So it's very safe to use, very easy to use, and it won't cause any harm to either the person using it or the products. And that's that's the goal. Another thing about some of those wipes that have chemicals in them is the of course, that you're putting that on those material, that surface, and if it's still damp, when you put that on, you're going to both smell that chemical, and feel the wetness of that. So that can be challenging for sensitive skin. And also just the idea of smelling whatever chemical you might be smelling, is definitely not conducive to wanting to put that headset on. And when you think about it, one of those barriers of global adoption, whether it's whether in your eyes, it's big or small, is people have to want to use these products. They've got to want to put that headset on, take it off, and feel excited to put it back on again. I call that tech as a second skin. And I really think that for broad adoption, there are lots of components that play into that in terms of how why you'll think that that's a second skin and why you'll feel comfortable enough to call it, if you will, a second skin. But I do think that's the goal. And so Cleanbox is here to really help support the industry in the ways that we know how and that's one of them.
Faaizah Arshad
So you're definitely using a combination of light exposure and intensity, timing and product size to disinfect the VR devices. But what really helps you determine the formula or the right amount of say UV light exposure and timing that's needed to eliminate contagions. How do you, how do you find that formula that optimizes all of those aspects?
Amy Hedrick
Well, we spent a lot of time doing R&D and looking at what our cumulative dosage should be. And that should be a combination, of course, that intensity of light with the wavelength of light that we use. And then of course, you have your surface distance, and you know, your your exposure time. So finding that happy medium that was highly effective, but also very consistently safe for the products. And you know, being able to do that effectively. So that cumulative dosage that we have in all of our engineering is really critical to being able to have repeatable results. So that's a combination, as you mentioned, surface to distance, intensity of light, the wavelength that we use, and so on. And of course, having that overlapping radius of light. So we have equal coverage on all of our targeted surfaces.
Jessica Hagen
So to kind of move on from the aspect of how it works, where is it actually being utilized right now? What settings is Cleanbox currently available in.
Amy Hedrick
In terms of industries and use cases?
Jessica Hagen
Yes.
Amy Hedrick
The one thing that is exciting about my company, even though I'm the one saying it, but it excites me, is because we're a first to market hygiene product, we actually are in a number of industries. About 15 different industries we're active in. And that's just because immersive tech is that exciting. So we're used, you can find Cleanbox and everything from healthcare like we're discussing today. And that can be in a hospital setting or, or an out-patient setting a range of healthcare settings. We're also in automotive, manufacturing, transportation, entertainment, education. Education is a huge industry for us. And that's exciting too, because, of course, I think that that's where VR is, or AR is highly effective is just in new ways of learning information and retaining it in a better way.
Jessica Hagen
So as far as use cases within clinical research, I imagine that Cleanbox would be incredibly valuable in the clinical research setting. Have studies or trials taken place that have used Cleanbox technology?
Amy Hedrick
Yes, absolutely. I'm not sure if I can talk about any of them in particular in terms of names of organizations, but yes, and that's both with clinical trials and everything from that type of research to in-hospitals as well as you know pharmaceuticals. So we are involved in a number of projects that use Cleanbox then to validate from beginning to end the entire immersive tech application.
Faaizah Arshad
Are physicians and clinicians able to access Cleanbox Technology? How can they get a Cleanbox if they wanted one? Or or is there an option to rent? What is the affordability?
Amy Hedrick
Well, currently we sell our product directly. But we have started renting some of our units, especially for short term events. You can go to our website, it's cleanboxtech.com. And we actually make it possible for you to fill out an order form. You won't be able to purchase it directly on the website, but somebody will call you back and just confirm that this is actually the product that you want, and make sure they have all your shipping information and everything else. Because we do sell it all around the world, we have clients in about 50 different countries. And we also have four different products that we sell—three in our CX series, and our CX series is geared for HMDs. So whether it's a single, single bay, where you can clean one unit at once, or two at once, or four at once. We have all of those different products, so you can purchase them from or inquire from our website, and one of our direct team members will call you back. We also have other types of partners in different countries. Potentially, if you're in South America, we have a reseller in Brazil, that can help you get those products quickly and more efficiently through customs. We also have a number of reselling partners in different parts of Europe. And so we really work hard to make it easy to get our products. And if it's not, of course, you can always email me directly. And I will make sure to help you get what you need.
Faaizah Arshad
And Cleanbox is of course and industry offering but since this is Psychiatry XR, do you see psychiatrists being helpful in the health and safety of products? Which mental health clinics are using your products? And what do you see as being barriers? I know that was like three questions in one. But if you maybe want to just cover like the the role that psychiatrists play in in Cleanbox Technology.
Amy Hedrick
How I like to think of Cleanbox Technology as it pertains to psychiatry is that we're a tool to help make a psychiatrists job easier. We're there to help really support you guys. And the way we do that is by allowing a safe use of, of the hardware that's important in your particular use case. So in terms of where Cleanbox is used currently, for psychiatry, I, of course, can't share a lot of names. But we do any, any place that is using it for that purpose is probably also using Cleanbox. I know the veterans, the VA is a big proponent of the use of immersive technology, virtual and augmented reality. And they have a lot of programs that they do talk about publicly. And that's everything from pain mitigation to other more intense programs. And they do use Cleanbox, we're in probably a couple of 100 locations currently. And I love what they're doing with it because they have just a range of applications in VR that they offer for veterans. And so I think it's very exciting what they're doing, because it's easy to show how immersive tech can be helpful for a number of issues. And I love to see, you know, both on a larger corporate level, but also individual practitioners that are using it in their in their daily work. I think that's amazing.
Faaizah Arshad
Do you see there being any barriers to them accessing your products? You know, you've definitely mentioned that it's across regions and clinics. But in general, what barriers do you see in accessibility?
Amy Hedrick
Well, I hope that there aren't any barriers in accessing our products. And I certainly am here to try to help as well with any kind of accessibility to even those immersive tech programs that are so helpful to patients and to people around the world. One thing we do to really try to help make sure that you that anyone can have access to our products, is we partner with some of our customers. So software developers, and also companies that sort of package both software and hardware packages for these particular use cases, we partner with them and we bundle our products with theirs. And if that's not their setup, some companies only develop the software, but they don't sell the hardware. So we also have a referral partnership that we offer where they can say here's you know, we recommend that you get whichever hardware they're recommending, and then to make sure that you're using it safely. Here's a link to the Cleanbox website and we're able to actually work with our customers and partners that way where they benefit as well from being able to be a referral partner. And we'd love to do that because it's really a way for us to help the industry as a whole in a way that is a win win situation and is non competitive. And it really just hopefully makes it easier for everyone to, to succeed.
Jessica Hagen
Did you originally start Cleanbox for a specific type of device and then you kind of came into the virtual reality sets, or how did you actually end up in the medical XR realm?
Amy Hedrick
I started Cleanbox really looking at immersive tech as a whole as being highly impactful. I at the time was writing for a think tank on changes in technology and traveling around the world and seeing what kind of hardware and technology changes were out there. And I felt that virtual reality to start with was really at a place where the promise, that the capability was starting to catch up with the promise. And I saw that as highly transformative in a million applications, from the way we learn to the way we teach to the way a business can build a product and to the way another industry can save money and time. And to be honest, when I first started the company, I really saw healthcare as being likely a slower adopter simply because of all the regulations that are intrinsic to the the industry as a whole. But I have been absolutely blown away at the applications, from psychiatry to surgery, I think it is phenomenal. And I've I've literally watched people, anything from even a meditative, a meditation program, where people I've seen them before and after. And I can actually, and of course, I'm not a psychiatrist myself, but I'm giving you my observations, you see that impact from that type of application to on, on the other side of that, actually, during surgery, having watched a brain surgeon use virtual reality, to prep for a surgery. And then you see the outcome post-surgery, where that, the capability of using that technology allowed them to make smarter decisions and save lives. So I you know, from early on, we've been founding members of International Virtual Reality Healthcare Association (IVRHA). We're one of the first founding member companies of that group. From very early on with Cleanbox, I saw healthcare as one of the most exciting verticals, to be in, in immersive tech. And it is it remains that way.
Faaizah Arshad
It's so fantastic to see that evolution and so how would you like to see it in 20 years from now? How would you like to see extended reality being used? And what do you see as some problems that we need to address to get there?
Amy Hedrick
Well, I think what you're seeing now is really a taste of what is going to be possible in 20 years, and you call it extended reality. And I'd like to say that that's how I would like to see it, as really an extension of your day-to-day reality. Where, for example, if you are having mental health issues, and you don't necessarily have access to the kind of care that you need. Extended reality is a way to provide better access to more people, to more socio-economic groups, to more geographies, to more expertise. And really having that a part of your extended daily reality, as an option, I think will, will create a better world if you want to, be you know, I know that sounds very simplistic, and in some ways it is. But I also see that as something that this technology is capable of helping us do. And in terms of the barriers of adoption. Of course, there are some very practical ones that a lot of the, you know, the big players in this world have been working on. And those can be hardware focused, they can also be software focused. The cost of creating some of these programs, I think is currently a barrier of entry on some level, I hope to see that come down. And also the process, I think, for certifying certain use cases, when it comes to healthcare applications, the legislation around that, the standards committees, and I'm actually on some of them, at least on the hardware side, not on the software side. I think those are barriers of entry currently. But I do see champions in this space, actively working behind the scenes, to get ready for what's going to roll out in the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years. By starting those standards processes by trying to ease the path of legislation. And then going on to ease that path of adoption. I think education will be very important when it comes to practical ways of using this technology. For example, I'm immersed in this on a regular basis, because this is a big part of my world. So I find it very easy to understand, Oh, of course you can do this and this and this with it. But not everybody necessarily is going to come from that same perspective. A lot of people might have a challenge understanding why they have to put this headset on their head and what does it do and you know, there's so there could be a gap between you know, your technical capabilities or even your fear of, I don't know putting a headset on or your fear of motion sickness or, or anything along those lines, that can be barriers of entry. But I do think that we will get there. And some of that is education, you know, letting people start to use it in new ways. And so that it's a normal thing to do, like you're holding your cell phone is a normal thing to do whereas it wasn't necessarily, you know, 20 years ago, since you gave me that 20 year, that 20 year timeline. So that's, that's, that's my goal, I think. And I'm here to try to help ease that adoption, in the ways that I'm able to.
Faaizah Arshad
Yeah, definitely education and hopefully, this episode is going to be a form of education to some of our listeners who want to learn more about the ways that extended reality and health and safety of products really matter.
Amy Hedrick
Well you guys are, you guys are doing this on a regular basis. So I think that you guys are critical parts of the adoption of these technologies, because you're here educating people and talking about it, and making it palatable for people who might be less familiar with it. So I have to congratulate you guys on the work that you're doing.
Jessica Hagen
Well, thank you very much.
Faaizah Arshad
Thank you very much. And, you know, thank you so much for your time, and for joining us today and talking to us about Cleanbox Technology.
Amy Hedrick
My pleasure.
Faaizah Arshad
It's definitely been informative, and I think our listeners will really enjoy this episode.
Amy Hedrick
Thank you guys so much for having me. It's been a pleasure chatting with you. And I look forward to the next time we can talk.
Faaizah Arshad
Thank you, Amy. So to our listeners: that's it for this episode of Psychiatry XR, we hope you gained a new perspective on extended reality use in healthcare, and thanks for listening. This episode was brought to you by Psychiatry XR, the psychiatry podcast about immersive technology and mental health. For more information about Psychiatry XR, visit our website at psychiatryxr.com. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and tune in again next month to hear from another guest about XR 's use in psychiatric care. You can join us monthly on Apple podcasts, Twitter, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. Psychiatry XR was produced by Dr. Kim Bullock, Faaizah Arshad and Jessica Hagen. Please note this podcast is distinct from Dr. Bullock's clinical teaching and research roles at Stanford University. And the information provided is not medical advice and should not be considered or taken as a replacement for medical advice. We credit and are very grateful to Austin Hagen for music and audio production. See you next time.