A while ago we wrote about a pair of shoes for the blind by a company called Le Chal. However, these aren’t the only shoes designed for people with disabilities. Another pair of shoes has been designed for Alzheimer’s patients, and they’re by Personal Location Services company GTX corp, partnered with shoe company Aetrex.
The shoe is called the Aetrex Navistar  and they are designed to allow people close to the patient to be able to keep track of them in case they wonder. The idea is that shows aren’t something that a patient is likely to take off, at least not as much as a watch or bracelet. Because of this, these shoes are more effective in keeping track of patients, and hence are safer.
The device comes at a very good time. The number of Alzheimer’s patients is higher than ever, and the number of Alzheimer’s sufferers is expected to rise significantly in the next 10 years due to the age of baby boomers, who are reaching the age of 65. Not only this, but the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s is expected to rise from 5.4 million this year, to 16 million in 2050.
The system allows for constant tracking of the wearer, and can be tracked by the caretaker logging in to a secure portal on their smartphone. The service also uses Google Maps to track the wearers of the shoe, which means that anyone familiar with Google Maps shouldn’t have too much trouble using the app for these shoes.
The GPS technology is located inside a cavity in the shoe, and should last as long as a normal shoe would, or one to three years. Not only this, but the shoe has also been approved by the FCC and is on sale for $299.
