Balance Shoes

red dot
red dot award: design concept 2008

design:

Yim Jeong Seok

Balance Shoes aid those with poliomyelitis by enabling the wearer to regulate the height of the soles.

Those who have suffered from infantile paralysis, or poliomyelitis (polio), find it hard to walk normally because of the way the disease has affected their legs. One of the effects is that one leg can stand shorter than the other. Balance Shoes enable the height of the soles to be adjusted by filling three small individual air bags with air through inlets on the heel of the shoe. Each of the air inlets is connected to a single air bag, so the shoe can be worn at four different levels. Balance Shoes can provide some aid to the walking process and perhaps help to increase the confidence of the wearer.