Among the many issues faced by elderly in daily life, the risk of falling is a potentially dangerous issue. Unfortunately, this risk is a particularly common one, as approximately one in four U.S. residents aged ≥ 65 years report falling each year. Given that almost 30,000 US residents died from falls in the year 2016 alone, falling is a particularly serious risk that can and should be avoided.

Named after the Greek goddess of safety, deliverance and preservation from harm, Soteria is a product designed to mitigate this potential hazard. It is a fully-automatic hip exoskeleton that provides assistance to the elderly. It prevents them from falling by ensuring that the user maintains a balanced gait during walking. Current strategies to help in solving this problem such as handrails, walkers and canes, are all passive devices and do not offer the versatility, ease of use, and seamless integration of an active balance correcting system. For instance, for elderly people who have a delayed reaction time due to a degenerate somatosensory system, use of a device such as a walking stick will be ineffective as it requires the user themselves to react quickly, to prevent a fall. An active system thereby proves superior, by minimizing the burden on the user in the fall prevention and recovery process.