Project Description: 

We are Set the Lace, and we looked into the difficulty of the bimanual task of shoe tying for individuals with upper limb impairments. There are over 550,000 individuals per year who experience upper limb impairments in the US, including 520,000 stroke survivors with hemiparesis as well as upper limb amputees, those with upper limb reduction by birth defects, and those with cerebral palsy. These individuals may struggle with bimanual coordination tasks, such as tying their shoes. Current solutions on the market, such as velcro shoes, elastic laces, and slip ons, cost around $15 and have an $8.3 million market value in the US. However, these solutions force users to compromise on appearance, functionality, and type of shoe they can wear for the ease of shoe tying. Our team, with the support of our sponsor, Synchro Motion, explored how to improve current methods of assisting individuals with tying their shoes, without needing to compromise. To do this, we designed Like Tied, a discrete and portable device that is able to be used with only the most functional hand. Like Tied slides onto the side of the shoe and uses an extending curved apparatus to hold a hook adjacent to the laces. The user wraps one lace around the hook and pulls tight effectively making a loop. Using only their most functioning hand, the user takes the free lace, wraps it around the stabilized loop, and pulls the lace through to create a bowknot. The user then pulls the free loop tight to create a taut bowknot utilizing the single loop method for tying shoes. Once the shoe is tied, Like Tied is simply pulled off the shoe so that the user can go about their day with a tight, comfortable, and uncompromised shoe.