《TAIPEI TIMES》 Hon Hai teams up with British medical start-up

ENHANCEMENT: Investment in the start-up’s GyroGlove, developed for people with Parkinson’s disease, would align with Hon Hai’s core mission, the manufacturer said

By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

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Hon Hai Precision Industry Co （鴻海精密） yesterday announced a strategic partnership with British medical device start-up GyroGear Co, as the world’s largest contract electronics maker aims to manufacture GyroGear’s flagship product, the GyroGlove.

Hon Hai would invest ￡1 million （US$1.38 million） in GyroGear to acquire one seat on the firm’s board of directors, the world’s largest contract electronics maker said.

The GyroGlove is the first wearable medical device developed for people with hand tremors, such as those with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor disorder, Hon Hai said in a statement.

More than 200 million people worldwide frequently experience hand tremors, and more than half of them live in Asia, the company said.

According to the British firm’s Web site, GyroGear founder Faii Ong developed the idea of the GyroGlove as a medical student when he noticed that older people with hand tremors had problems eating, and their health deteriorated due to malnutrition.

“It functions exactly like a top,” Ong said in an interview with Channels Television, describing the gyroscope positioned in the GyroGlove. “Just as the top spins, it tries to stay upright. In the same way, the glove counteracts your hand tremors.”

A Channels Television video showed a patient with essential tremors paint her nails with the aid of the wearable device, even though the GyroGlove, according to the company, is still in development and not yet market-ready.

“We believe that our collaboration with Hon Hai will help tremor patients in Asia,” Ong said.

Hon Hai said that the partnership would strengthen its presence in the medical-device industry.

It would also help Hon Hai “align with our core mission of making people’s lives better through the power of technology,” the company said.

Hon Hai added that it would obtain exclusive rights to produce and sell the wearable glove in Asia.

The two firms are also collaborating to establish a research-and-development facility in Taiwan focused on software and hardware, Hon Hai said.

The investment is part of Hon Hai’s bid to explore sources of growth and expand from manufacturing to hardware and software integration.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES