The Smart Shoe, reimagined

Their iPhone already measures how they walk. Now you can read it.

Today: the Gait Check, the gait-speed calculator, and a labelled demo of daily tracking. Next, not live yet: sensor insoles, alerts on your phone, and a family app.

Your parent's iPhone has quietly been measuring how they walk: speed, steadiness, asymmetry. Slow walking goes with more falls and shorter survival (MOBILIZE Boston, 2011; Studenski, JAMA 2011). The Gait Check at healthgait.com reads a Health export on the device, and the right shoe is one of several fixes. No gadget for them to wear or charge.

See how it works today ↓
No account · The sensor is the phone they already own · A better shoe is one fix
1 in 4older adults report a fall each year (CDC)
Nonehardware to buy — their phone is the sensor
The hard part

You can't be there for every step. But their phone is.

Walking that slows is a warning sign. In one study of older adults, those whose walking speed dropped by more than 0.15 m/s in a year fell more often afterward (MOBILIZE Boston, 2011). The hard part has always been seeing it, because it happens at home, day by day. Here's what changed: their iPhone has been measuring it the whole time (Walking Steadiness, walking speed, asymmetry), and the data sits in the Health app. The Gait Check lets you read it today.

Three parts, one already in their pocket

Their phone measures it. The right shoe steadies it. Alerts come next.

Their iPhone is the sensor

Apple Health already computes walking speed, asymmetry, and Walking Steadiness — built to warn of fall risk, validated against gait labs. Nothing for them to wear, charge, or remember.

The right shoe steadies them

A firm sole, a low heel and a secure fit are the usual advice for steadier walking. Shoe advice is on fallrisks.com today, with no account; a shoe matched to how they walk is next, not live yet.

Alerts: next, not live yet

The plan: when their walking starts to slip, a heads-up on your phone with a clear next step. Until then, run the Gait Check again from time to time and compare.

How it works

How it works today: four steps, a few minutes.

Export their Health data

On their iPhone, the Health app can export what it has recorded, including walking speed, steadiness and asymmetry. They choose what to share.

Read it on the device

Open the Gait Check and pick the export. It shows their gait number and trend in the browser; nothing uploads.

No iPhone data? Time a walk

Time a 4-metre walk and enter it in the gait-speed calculator. It bands the result against published cut points.

Act on it

Take the fall-risk screen at fallrisks.com, then bring the numbers to their clinician. The fix might be a better shoe, a balance class, or physical therapy.

Next, not live yet: automatic daily reading, alerts on your phone, and a family app.

What works today

  • The Gait Check — reads their Health export on the device: a gait number and a trend. Nothing uploads.
  • The gait-speed calculator — a timed 4-metre walk, banded against published cut points, with a link you can share
  • A labelled demo — made-up data showing a daily reading next to a once-a-year check
  • No hardware to buy — the sensor is the iPhone they already carry

Next, not live yet

Sensor insoles, alerts on your phone when the trend slips, a family app that reads their iPhone for you, and a shoe matched to how they walk.

Start here — no account
Nothing to buy to begin

Take the 3-minute fall-risk screen at fallrisks.com: the CDC's 12-question checklist, with a next step for each answer that raises risk.

Shoes may qualify for HSA / FSA, case by case, with a letter of medical necessity
Take the screen →

No account, no email. The answers stay in the browser.

Why it works

Two things are already true. We finally put them together.

One: walking speed tracks health. Slow walkers fall more often (MOBILIZE Boston, 2011) and live shorter lives (Studenski, JAMA 2011), and CDC STEADI includes gait and balance tests in its fall screening. Two: Apple validated the iPhone as a gait sensor and built Walking Steadiness from its Heart & Movement Study to warn of fall risk. The signal and the science already live on the phone in your parent's pocket. The Gait Check makes them visible to you today.

The signal is already on their phone.

It starts with a 3-minute screen — no account, no email. You'll see their score on the CDC checklist in minutes.

Take the fall-risk screen →
For clinicians — the monitoring idea, with a labelled demo → The gait method, in the open → AirPods + iPhone + Watch as one sensor →
Reads only the data they choose to share
The Gait Check runs in the browser; nothing uploads
Built on the 6th-vital-sign science
About MotionSole and the "smart shoe." Today the Gait Check (healthgait.com) reads gait metrics — including walking speed, asymmetry, and Walking Steadiness — from an Apple Health export your family chooses to make on a compatible iPhone. Continuous reading, alerts, a family app and sensor insoles are planned, not live. It supports awareness and earlier action; it is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, or prevent disease, and it cannot stop every fall. Walking Steadiness and Apple Health are features of Apple Inc.; MotionSole is independent and not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Apple. Shoe recommendations reflect published footwear-and-balance evidence (e.g., AGS evidence-based footwear guidance) and are not a guarantee against falls. Fall and gait figures reflect CDC data and published gait-speed research (Studenski et al., JAMA 2011; Quach et al., J Am Geriatr Soc 2011, the MOBILIZE Boston study; CDC STEADI). HSA/FSA eligibility depends on a qualifying letter of medical necessity and your plan. Always involve a qualified clinician in care decisions.