Innocorp, ltd. is the creator and innovator of hands-on tools that people and organizations use to create engaging health, safety, awareness and prevention outreach programs and campaigns especially in the area of traffic safety. Innocorp’s flagship product is the Fatal Vision® Alcohol Impairment Simulation Goggles. Innocorp’s line of Fatal Vision simulation goggles include alcohol and marijuana impairment, drowsy and distracted simulation, and concussion symptom simulation.
One day in 1993, Michael Aguilar’s perspective and appreciation for life changed forever. He came home from a business meeting to find that a drunk driver, just minutes earlier, had veered off the road in his neighborhood into the yard where his 5-year-old son David and his son’s friend Tyler were playing. The car narrowly missed David but hit Tyler. Tyler was seriously injured and would spend the next week in the hospital recovering from his injuries. The driver was a neighbor who tragically made the choice to drive impaired that day. Aguilar never forgot the anger and dismay he felt that his neighbor could make such a poor decision that nearly cost the life of his son and his son’s friend. Aguilar would soon discover that impaired driving related injuries and fatalities were an all too common tragedy in the United States and abroad.
A few years later, Aguilar and friend Pat Flaherty developed a new concept — goggles that simulated the physical effects of alcohol impairment. They founded Innocorp, ltd. (the name a combination of the words “innovation” and “corporation”) on May 8, 1996. Aguilar debuted his prototype set of Fatal Vision® Alcohol Simulation Goggles at the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Highway Safety in September 1996. Conference attendees loved the new approach, the first of its kind, for impaired driving prevention outreach and insisted on having their own goggles. Aguilar began assembling goggles on his dining room table as demand for the innovation grew quickly.
After the success of the Fatal Vision® Alcohol Simulation Goggles, Innocorp began developing more products. Those products include the Simulated Impaired DriviNg Experience (SIDNE®), a behind-the-wheel activity showing the dangers of impaired and distracted driving, the Fatal Vision® Marijuana Simulation Experience, which demonstrates the cognitive impairments associated with recreational marijuana and their effects on driving, and the Fatal Vision® Concussion Goggles, which highlight symptoms of traumatic brain injury and effects on a person’s physical and cognitive functioning. Innocorp’s most recent product is the Fatal Vision® Drowsy and Distracted Goggles. Today, Innocorp has thousands of customers in more than 100 countries selling its line of innovative products and educational materials around the world.
Innocorp’s vision is to revolutionize the health, safety and prevention industry by creating innovative and powerful tools that engage and enlighten audiences to make informed choices and take positive actions that save lives, prevent injuries and promote the health and well-being of themselves and others.
Michael Aguilar led Innocorp’s transition from a startup company in 1996 to an internationally recognized enterprise, developing and selling an entire line of proprietary and innovative prevention and awareness tools and campaigns to more than 100 countries. Since 2009, Aguilar has been heading an initiative to position Innocorp as a social marketing leader and expert, developing evidence-based tools and campaigns that support clientele in promoting and fostering positive attitude and behavior change especially as it relates to sober driving.
Aguilar earned his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, Missouri. He then earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in marketing from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Aguilar is currently enrolled in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pursuing a PhD in mass communication.
Deb Kusmec joined Innocorp in 1998 and was named COO in 2008. Her focus is on new-concept brainstorming, product development, bringing products to market and developing support and training materials. She also enjoys providing the Simulated Impaired DriviNg Experience (SIDNE®) training as it allows her to stay in touch with customer needs and observe how customers are using Innocorp tools in the field.
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Kusmec received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the Missouri University of Science & Technology. She began her career as an engineering information technology support staff member for John Deere & Company, and transitioned into a training career, which eventually led her to Innocorp.