Walking Shoes That Spy on Grandma

Andrew Carle delights in what he calls “nana-technology,” electronic gizmos designed to improve the quality of life for the elderly and their caregivers. For the past eight years, he’s been researching the senior-care industry at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where he serves as an executive-in-residence to students and faculty in the College of Health and Human Services. He’s also been advising companies that include Apple and Nintendo (7974:JP) about their devices.

So in 2008, when Carle came across a company developing shoes fitted with GPS devices for tracking children, he sensed the technology might be useful for a different market: seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that make them likely to wander away from home. He cold-called its developer, GTX, in Los Angeles and suggested it get in touch with Aetrex Worldwide, a Teaneck (N.J.)-based specialty shoe-and-orthotics manufacturer he had also found online.