his week, researchers at MIT, Harvard and NASA unveiled the iShoe, a pressure-sensitive insole that detects the unusual weight distribution that heralds balance problems.
The iShoe was originally designed to help astronauts returning from space to reacquaint themselves with Earth's gravity, but the designers quickly identified a larger - and potentially more lucrative - market. The iShoe could detect balance problems in the elderly and identify those most at risk of falls that can easily fracture brittle old bones.
There's a photo of graduate student Erez Lieberman with the iShoe to the right.
A future version of the iShoe could even stimulate the feet, providing feedback and helping patients regain their balance.
As it turns out, we've been here before. Back in 2002, Jim Collins and colleagues at Boston University built a vibrating platform to boost the sense of balance that pressure on the soles of the feet provides.
Yohan Payan at the TIMC lab near Grenoble, France, has tackled the problem from the other end of the body. He designed a device that fits snugly in the mouth and 'tickles' the tongue if the body sways too much in one direction, which also provides feedback to help correct balance problems.
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