Innovation through Collaboration: Veterans & Assistive Tech

The best innovation comes from collaboration. Few embody this principle better than the VHA Innovators Network (iNET). Programs like iNET's Greenhouse Initiative connect the private sector, Veterans, and healthcare staff who can provide real feedback on ideas and early products. It's a win-win. Life-changing innovations have emerged from the program.

The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Augusta, Georgia, hosted its inaugural Innovation Summit in 2024. The Summit featured sessions, workshops, and demos of cutting-edge technologies being implemented at VA Augusta, including the DEB (Device for gait, Efficiency and Balance) shoe—which helps physical therapy patients walk without tripping, a male contraceptive initiative, and XanderGlasses. Kelsey Shull, an Innovation Specialist of iNET, who organized the Summit and spearheaded Xander's collaboration with the Augusta VAMC, explained, "Our goal is to bring together the best minds in healthcare to share knowledge, ideas, and best practices," to benefit Veterans.

Direct Impact of Innovation 

Opportunities like the Summit, where people with auditory disorders or severe hearing loss can test XanderGlasses, are great, because we always learn from these interactions. But the highlight of the Summit came during a panel discussion, "Co-Designing the Future of Health Care." The 60-minute session featured two Veterans who use XanderGlasses, Xander's co-founders, Kelsey Shull, and Dr. Lisa Rogers, an audiologist who tested and used XanderGlasses with some of her patients. Both Veterans had worn XanderGlasses for over six months and answered questions about the experience.

  Video of "Co-Designing the Future of Health Care," courtesy of Janet Rush, who recorded from the audience. Highlight video by Xander © 2025

Veterans shared that XanderGlasses helped restore their confidence communicating and engaging in conversations. When asked, "How would you use this experience to encourage other Veterans?" Mr. J.R. Rush, a USMC Veteran, shared,

"Well, it's quality of life . . . the quality of life is something that we feel. It changed—it immediately changed mine—just the simple task of putting on the glasses changed my quality of life instantly. So being able to get this information out to more people . . . more people can get the help that they need and their quality of life will increase. And that's an awesome thing.”

~ Mr. J. R. Rush, USMC Veteran

Unexpected Impact on Caregivers

One of the most surprising moments of the discussion came at the end when an audience member stood up to speak. Janet Rush, wife of panelist J.R. Rush, shared that XanderGlasses improved their quality of life.  "We've been married for 40 years and now he has a lot of disability," including impaired vision and severe hearing loss, she shared. "But these glasses—he's able to read which is phenomenal.”

"It has drastically changed the quality of our life because . . . I would say something and I have to repeat it three or four times. And then he gets frustrated, I get frustrated . . . we didn't have any more conversations. . . . But these glasses—he's able to read which is phenomenal . . . He has CIDP so . . . every nerve in his body is affected. I am his caregiver and 90% of the things I do for him. So by us talking, that helped our relationship because that was something that was lost. But we got back.”

~ Mrs. Janet Rush

Better Innovation through Collaboration

Xander was accepted into the iNET program in 2021 and worked with Innovation Specialists at four VA Medical Centers. The program enabled us to test prototypes of XanderGlasses with Veterans with severe hearing loss, and we gained valuable, practical feedback from them and the audiologists who treat them. 

In 2023, Dr. Rogers became one of the first audiologists to test XanderGlasses with Veterans under her care. She explained that the collaborations iNET enables between the private sector and the VA can benefit everyone. “Technology is moving quickly," she shared, "as audiologists, we focus on hearing, but that’s not really our job. Our job is communication. And at some point . . . what we always done—hearing aid, cochlear implant—is not going to give the patient the communication which is really our goal." 

"Let’s think outside the box. . . . Being open to new horizons, new technology, maybe it's not the way we’ve always done it. But . . . what is our ultimate goal? To make life better for the Veteran.”

~ Dr. Lisa Rogers

Thanks to iNET, Xander worked directly with Veterans and their audiologists for years, testing iterations of our product. That interaction helped us make a better product and user experience. Now, XanderGlasses can help Veterans whose severe hearing loss eroded their ability to communicate and connect. 

Mr. Rush summarized, "It’s technology and the VA and the private sector getting together for the Veteran, is something really awesome." Xander is grateful to iNET for our collaboration. We welcome feedback that helps us improve the real-time captioning experience.

"Our goal is to bring together the best minds in healthcare to share knowledge, ideas, and best practices, ultimately benefiting our Veteran patients and the community we serve."

~ Kelsey Shull, Innovation Specialist, VA Augusta

The Innovation Summit uplifted and educated attendees. Reporters Kimberly Vickers, WJBF NewsChannel 6, and Allissa Young, FOX54 News, provided coverage of the inaugural Summit.

Xander thanks iNET for enabling us to collaborate with Veterans for whom traditional assistive hearing devices, like hearing aids or cochlear implants, could no longer help to understand speech. Thanks to the input of these Veterans and their audiologists, we iterated features of our real-time captioning glasses. Since the Summit, XanderGlasses have helped Veterans across the U.S. to understand speech again and remain connected.