Milbotix are proud to announce the sale and handover of its flagship product, SmartSocks®DISCOVERY, to the University of the West of England (UWE). This milestone marks the beginning of a collaboration that will support cutting-edge research into assistive technologies for older adults as part of the SAW-Health project.
Led by Professor Carlos Cifuentes at UWE’s Bristol Robotics Laboratory, SAW-Health (Socially Assistive Walker to Promote the Health and Wellbeing in Older Adults) is a £392,000 MRC-funded initiative exploring the use of intelligent robotic systems to support physical and mental wellbeing in ageing populations. As a project partner, Milbotix is contributing SmartSocks®DISCOVERY to provide high-fidelity, real-time physiological and movement data from older adults participating in the study. Other project partners include AgeUK and the ExtraCare Charitable Trust.
“We are thrilled to see SmartSocks®DISCOVERY in the hands of such an innovative research team,” said Dr Zeke Steer, CEO and Founder of Milbotix. “This handover is not only a commercial milestone for Milbotix, but a tangible step towards transforming care and independence for older adults. It’s a privilege to support UWE’s groundbreaking work.”
SmartSocks® are intelligent, machine-washable socks embedded with sensors that capture electrodermal activity, heart rate, skin temperature, and movement. Comfortable and discreet, they are designed to be worn seamlessly throughout daily life, even by people who are intolerant to traditional wrist-worn wearables.
SmartSocks® will play a crucial role in monitoring gait, physiological wellbeing, and engagement during activities of daily living, all central to SAW-Health’s mission to co-design a socially assistive robotic walker.
Professor Carlos Cifuentes commented:
“Receiving the first SmartSocks® from Milbotix marks an exciting milestone for our research at Bristol Robotics Laboratory. These innovative sensors will allow us to monitor gait patterns in real time, which is vital for progressing our work on walking assistive technologies. By integrating SmartSocks® with our smart walkers and exoskeleton systems, we can start to develop responsive solutions that actively support mobility and independence in older adults and users with neurological impairments.”
SmartSocks®DISCOVERY targets researchers working in neurocognitive, movement, and physiological domains. The product includes pairs of SmartSocks®, a removable sensor, charger, and a cloud-based dashboard, enabling remote data capture and analysis. The product is now available for at https://milbotix.com/shop including an affordable starter kit suitable for Masters and PhD students.
