Re-Step system in the form of motorized rehabilitation shoes

Isn’t it ironic that when you want older folks to walk better an improve their mobility, you will need to make things more difficult for them during the process? It has been said that walking on unpredictable and uneven surfaces are key factors in helping one improve balance while reducing the risk of falling. Based on this principle, researchers at Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde are working with Israeli medical products company Step of Mind Ltd. (SoM) to work on an innovative training shoe that is based on this principle, calling it Re-Step. Re-Step will see the incorporation of a quartet of motors on the bottom of each shoe that makes it more challenging for the wearer to walk, where it will do its bit to aid in the rehabilitation process for those suffering from movement disorders due to stroke or brain trauma. Apart from that, the Re-Step shoes are also able to measure and record the parameters of the wearer’s gait, where such information will then be analyzed using specialized software when the shoes are hooked up to a PC. Hopefully they won’t stink up the lab!