Saturday, June 29, 2013

Motorized Shoes Help Elderly Prepare for Walking Accidents

I can just see the therapists trying to get this thru the rehab approval committee. It does what? perturbs the walking?
http://www.medgadget.com/2011/03/motorized_shoes_help_elderly_prepare_for_walking_accidents.html
Engineers at the University of Strathclyde have been working with Israeli firm Step of Mind Ltd. to develop shoes that teach elderly folks how to walk with confidence. The SMILING (Self Mobility Improvement in the Elderly by Counteracting Falls) system utilizes motors on the bottom of the shoes to randomly create obstacles for the wearer. The idea is to give people a controlled environment to practice situations that may otherwise lead to slips and falls. So far researchers have conduced trials in Italy, Switzerland, Israel and Slovakia, and are analyzing the results.
picture from link.
Motorized Shoes Help Elderly Prepare for Walking Accidents
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1 comment:

  1. Steven Sweat, Attorney at LawJuly 6, 2013 at 6:48 PM

    Very interesting. I assume by "controlled environment" testing, you mean some type of safe, padded area. I think more research needs to be done to help prevent falls among one of our most vulnerable demographics (elderly persons).

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