A person’s gait is a very good health indicator which could potentially be analyzed in an everyday context by using wearable technology. This is especially interesting for people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons, MS, ALS or Alzeimers since they are highly dependent on good medical assistanse.

The aim of this project was to design a device for day-to-day gait analysis that anyone could wear.  The biggest challange was that data accuracy is way better if motion sensors are attached directly to the ankles compared to e.g. a sensor on the wrist.  Therefore, we aimed at a product which feels more like a fun gadget and or a nice accessoar rather than a medical device. 

User Studies and product development

We took help from focus groups with patients and experts to be able meet their demands. We performed interviews and user tests with different prototypes and adapted the design according to our observations. We used various kinds of ideation and prototyping tools such as clay modelling, 3D-printing, and Adobe XD for the dedicated mobile app.

Final product

Manipulating small objects can be really challanging for people with neurological diseases, so we had to make the wearable easy to grasp. Yet we wanted the wearable to be small to avoid too much attention. After several workshops with people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, doctors and nurses, we came up with a simple attachment principle. The wearable can be put on any fabric e.g. a sock or a strap. We wanted to give the object itself a smooth texture and an organic shape. The idea was to make it feel nice to pick up. Lastly, we added tactile feedback so that discrete medicine reminders can be used instead of loud alarms. The final piece was an app where the wearable can be controlled, and the recorded data can be viewed in a simplified way.