Vivity Labs is a company focused on delivering unique and entertaining brain fitness products. Our first product is Fit Brains, an online platform (www.fitbrains.com) featuring fun and engaging games that exercise the five key cognitive areas of the brain.
The games offer a variety of activities that help users of all ages maximize and round-out brain skills in an entertaining fashion. The games are tightly integrated with an extensive suite of easy-to-use personalization tools that provide individualized sessions for each user as well as comprehensive brain fitness metrics that measures individual performance and progress. The Fit Brains platform will also integrate a variety of social components to enhance and extend the overall brain fitness experience.
Mr. Cole is an experienced business executive who has been involved in launching innovative consumer, media and technology companies in the US, Europe and Japan.
In the last five years, he has become a leading expert in the brain fitness market. Most recently, he was the Co-founder and VP Business Development of Quixit, a San Francisco based company, which ran the Happy Neuron website, featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, etc. Prior to that, he led international business for the originators of brain fitness products, Scientific Brain Training (SBT). At SBT, Mr. Cole was responsible for corporate strategy, new product development and distribution. He launched three game books with McGraw-Hill; obtained retail distribution in the US, Europe and Asia for their interactive CD-ROMS; established web licensing deals with Yahoo, Discovery and AARP and distributed mobile games worldwide. Previously, Michael has held numerous executive positions in several start-ups. Mr. Cole received a MBA from EM Lyon in France and a BA in Communication from SFU.
Dr. Nussbaum is a clinical neuropsychologist and national leader in Brain Health. He is cited frequently by the media and national press including the NY Times, Wall Street and USA Today. He is the recent winner of the 2007 American Society on Aging "Gloria Cavanaugh Award" for excellence in training and education in the field of aging.
Dr. Nussbaum has over 20 years experience working with aging adults and all stages of dementia. His current focus is educating the public on the miracle of the brain and how to keep it healthy. He lectures both nationally and internationally on the human brain, diseases of the brain, and brain health promotion and has published over 50 peer reviewed articles, as well as numerous chapters and books within the scientific community. Dr. Nussbaum is an adjunct Associate Professor in Neurological Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Mark Baxter has been in the Games and New Media industry for more than eight years, in a variety of roles including: Officer, Producer and Creative Director. He was the President and Founder of Gnosis Games, an independent games studio that developed multiple #1 Casual Games, including "Paparazzi" and "Private Eye". In 2005, Gnosis was nominated as the Canada New Media Award's "Most Promising New Company of the Year".
In 2006, Gnosis was sold to Threewave Software, a AAA game development studio focused on producing top-tier online content for PCs and consoles. As a Senior Manager of Threewave, Mark lead the Gnosis Casual Games division and worked closely with top brands and clients including: Disney, Electronic Arts, Real Arcade, Shockwave and Big Fish Games.
Mark has a background in Psychology, and is actively involved in a variety of educational and "Serious Gaming" initiatives (games that educate through entertainment), including SAGE for Learning (Simulation and Advanced Gaming Environments). Mark was also a Speaker/Moderator at the 2007 Casual Games Conference, and is an active member of the New Media BC Program Advisory Committee.
About our partners.
Dr. Bondi is a Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD and a Staff Neuropsychologist at the San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. Dr. Bondi is a licensed psychologist in California and board certified in Clinical Neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is a Fellow of both the National Academy of Neuropsychology and Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) of the American Psychological Association. He serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals in neuropsychology and he has published over 75 research articles and book chapters.
Dr. Baxter Eversoll is an expert in lifelong learning and currently, an Emeritus Faculty Member at University of Nebraska. She is the chair for American Society on Aging National "Mind Alert" program. Dr. Baxter Eversoll is also the Project Director at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Nebraska. She completed her PhD in adult education at the University of Nebraska.
Irfan joined the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2006 exploiting his background in medicine, science and engineering, as well as venture capital investing, to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic technologies and propel them to the bedside where they can benefit patients. As a member of the Institute for Brain Disorders & Neural Regeneration and the Department of Neurology, Irfan focuses on the translation of new scientific discoveries to the treatment of neurological problems ranging from stroke to neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disease. He has earned numerous honors including a National Cancer Institute Grant, a Howard Hughes Research Fellowship and the Barry Goldwater Award. Irfan previously worked at Anthem Capital, a venture capital firm. He also graduated with Honors from Johns Hopkins with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and completed medical school and training in Neurology at Albert Einstein, where he received the prestigious Philip Hunt Scholarship awarded to one student every four years.
Michael is a senior Dementia and Cognitive Neurology fellow in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego. He specializes in the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. His current research interests include neuro-imaging of dementia as well as clinical trials. He received his M.D. and Ph.D from Brown University, and completed his neurology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Kalina is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department and the Brain Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. She completed her doctoral work in at Stanford University, and her postdoctoral training at Cambridge, UK. Her work focuses on the neural and cognitive mechanisms of human thought, reasoning and memory, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Her work on the functions of the anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) has linked this part of the brain to the uniquely human mental processes of introspection and meta-awareness. Dr. Christoff's most recent work focuses on examining spontaneous forms thought, such as memories and thought streams occuring in the form of mind wandering. She is also interested in examining meditation-based thought phenomena such as mindfulness, and developing clinical applications for fMRI using real-time fMRI feedback to train modulation of activation in specific brain regions.
Laurie is a serial entrepreneur, who has, to date, launched and led two successful technology companies in the digital media and wireless sectors. Most recently, Laurie co-founded and led online casual game developer FlyOver which was acquired by Vivendi Games in 2006. Previously, he co-founded Datum, a designer of semiconductors for the wireless data base station market. Acquired by PMC-Sierra for over $200 million in 2000, Datum became PMC-Sierra's wireless products division. Laurie led PMC-Sierra's wireless marketing initiatives throughout Asia, Europe and North America until his departure in 2003. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Laurie's worked in systems engineering, sales and executive management with industry leaders MPR Teltech, IBM and Apple.
Mr. Fujimoto has over a decade of experience in the web, mobile and technology business, and has been playing an integral role in the growth and development of Japan's IT sector. As one of Japan's most successful entrepreneurs, Junichi has founded and led numerous internet businesses.
Currently, he is the CEO of FON Japan. FON is the world's leading Wi-Fi company backed by Google, Skype and Sequoia Capital. Previously, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of eZuz, one of Japan's leading online comparison shopping sites. Earlier in his career, he founded and was the initial CEO of Livedoor, the first ever free internet service provider in Japan. Mr. Fujimoto has a dual business degree from Boston University and Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
Curtis Terry has more than 18 years of experience in corporate finance and has a proven track record of success in both Fortune 500 high-growth companies and start-up technology firms. Previously, he held the position of director of strategic planning for Electronic Arts-World Wide Studios. Terry was a co-founder and chief financial officer for Relic Entertainment, where he was responsible for providing financial and operational leadership until Relic was acquired by THQ in April 2004. Post acquisition he held the position of director of finance and operations. There, Terry focused on integrating the two entities while preserving Relic's corporate culture, which was critical for Relic's long-term success under THQ management. Prior to Relic, he played an important role in supporting FedEx Canada's entry into the Canadian market, where he held various corporate finance and managerial roles over his nine-year tenure with FedEx. Terry holds a bachelor's degree in economics with honors from University of Victoria and a master's degree in economics from Queen's University.
Mr. Bedford has over 20 years of international finance experience in Europe, Asia and North America. Nick served as Chairman of the Board for Active State, until its acquisition by Sophos Plc. He has held senior positions at UBS Warburg, including the Frankfurt-based role as Head of German Equities. In this position he oversaw all sales and sales trading of equity products, and was responsible for the merger of UBS Germany's equity business with SBC Warburg. Prior to this, he was with UBS' Securities division in Zurich, Tokyo, and London. Nick holds a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from King's College, London University.