Quikiks

Not all wearable Health Tech devices need to have digital electronics. Case in point: the Quikiks shoes. Think about this for a moment. When people want to describe someone as being incredibly out of shape, they often say something like “He can’t even bend over to tie his shoes.” The fact is that many people can’t put their shoes on at all, let alone tie them. The elderly, people recovering from an injury, and others have difficulty putting on footwear, and must either rely on the assistance of others or shuffle through life wearing slippers or sandals.

What if they could have shoes that look like other shoes, but that they could put on and take off simply by stepping into and out of them? It’s a small thing, but it can help them be more independent and rely less on the assistance of others. That’s what Quikiks are all about. A clever hinge mechanism lets the wearer simply step into them and a strong magnet clamps the back of the shoe in place. To take them off, just tap the back of the heel on the floor to open the shoe, and you can step out of it again.

This clever idea is ready to go into production. And at CES 2015, it won the Everyday Health Innovation Award for Chronic Condition Management. This simple invention could make life easier for millions of people worldwide.