Walk With Path is a leading health-tech company which is dedicated to improve mobility through active wearables used in daily lives. Through this, the company aims to allow everyone to walk with confidence.
The big differentiator that sets WWP apart from many other solutions out there is that the company provides active as well as therapeutic feedback. Its solutions are also based on user input from day one and it keeps circling back with the users to ensure that their needs are met.
Offering Distinctive Products
Walk With Path offers an innovative product called Path Finder which is a shoe attachment that provides visual cues to overcome a symptom of Parkinson’s disease, called freezing of gait. Freezing of gait is described by people with Parkinson’s as suddenly feeling glued to the floor and unable to move. It is debilitating and causes up to 70% of all falls among people with Parkinson’s disease. The Path Finder product provides visual cues using laser projections from the foot. These lines on the floor, act as visual obstacles that can help to set a rhythm and prompt walking. Path Finder is a medical device backed by scientific evidence.
WWP is working on its next product, Path Feel, which is an insole to improve balance and track walking. This is aimed at a much larger audience, including diabetics and elderly, in general. Path Feel will be a combined hardware and software product, and the company aims to have it ready by 2021.
The company sells ‘Path Finder’ into the healthcare systems in Denmark and Norway and also sells to AXA, the insurer. It is planning to scale further across Europe and North America in the coming year.
About the Leading light of WWP
Lise Pape, the Founder and CEO of WWP is instrumental in the company’s existence and regular operations. Under her invaluable leadership, the company looks for her noteworthy contribution in enhancing WWP. Lise founded WWP in 2014 whilst she was pursuing her study in Innovation Design Engineering at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College of Art London. She found her inspiration to get into the healthcare stream, and mobility more specifically, from her father who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
She believes that one not only makes the biggest difference in the life of an individual suffering from the disease, but also in the lives of everyone around that person. Also, she considers that the way healthcare is provided currently can be optimized and she looks forward to taking part in creating that change. Talking of being a leader in the healthcare space, Lise expresses, “Working in healthtech is extremely rewarding. Hearing stories from our users and seeing how our solutions make a difference is what it is all about for me.”
Giving her insights on the current healthcare scenario, Lise says, “We need to move towards a value based healthcare system. At the moment, it is very fragmented, and healthcare professionals are not incentivized to provide preventative solutions. Prevention should always be what we strive to provide.”
Setting itself Apart
WWP considers that keeping in close contact with users is extremely important and for Path Finder, the company runs a close post market surveillance where it interviews users about their experience. Talking about what keeps them motivated, Lise said, “The motivation that keeps us going when it gets tough is to see the difference our solutions make on our users. It really tells it all. It is also very personal, and as you hear more and more stories from users, you start feeling a bigger responsibility for providing a solution.”
Stories that Define Success
The most important acknowledgements are the ones that come from happy clients. More so, Walk With Path has changed lives of people for better with the Path Finder. Let’s look at what the clients have to say about it.
“My neurologist recommended me to get the laser cane, but I was not quite convinced because of the different mobility aids I use. I searched the internet and found Path Finder. Now I can use it with both my walker and my cane.” – Andrew, living with Parkinson’s, United Kingdom
“I bought the Path Finder for my mother who is 82 years old and has big problems walking because of freezing of gait. She now uses the Path Finder and the results are amazing! She walks without problems and has been given a whole new life. This is simply a miracle! She will thank you so much for the invention. Life is wonderful to live again, she says.” – Marjut, son of Parkinson’s disease sufferer
“It’s a great idea. Projected lines are a great aid, but up until now they’ve only been built into canes and walkers.” – Peter Schmidt, National Parkinson Foundation
Future Outlook
Walking With Path is currently focusing on developing products and wishes to see the portfolio of growing products. It also aims to remain convergent on mobility, despite of many facets to explore outside of core healthtech, which will bring excitement for the industry.
In its next phase of development, WWP will be adding data to its services which result in transformation. Lise thinks that digital health is a very trending topic, and among multiple players it will be important to distinguish themselves. However, she assures that the team at WWP will keep doing that by working closely with users and also keep offering a therapeutic solution, that is genuinely the company’s core.
