by Richard RogoskiComputerized shoe could prevent falls
Falls are a leading cause of injury for seniors, and many falls among older adults are attributed to poor balance. A company based in Haifa, Israel, has designed a shoe that can restore a person's balance when it detects a state of imbalance.
B-Shoe Technologies has developed the prototype shoe which uses battery-operated pressure sensors, a microprocessor and a motion device to detect imbalance, and then corrects for that imbalance through a backward-step motion—the same kind of reaction most people use when trying to regain their balance.
In a technical report posted on the company's Web page, researchers discuss the tests that compared regular shoes and the B-Shoe under various imbalance scenarios. Test results showed that when the B-Shoe was switched on, its rolling backward motion of only a few centimeters was enough to restore balance.
The footwear is still in the testing phase.
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