CH25: Kegan Schouwenburg
Revolutionizing orthotics with a mobile phone
Mention “orthotics” and most will hobble away quickly to avoid the Grandma-shoe stigma. But NYC-based start-up SOLS is simplifying the process with a non-invasive digital fitting that results in corrective insoles customized to your needs. The 3D-printing system, which SOLS built entirely in-house, is “the only end-to-end platform which enables scalable mass-customization of physical goods with an iPhone,” says founder Kegan Schouwenburg.
Schouwenburg—a Pratt graduate—grew up wearing orthotics, so she was the perfect candidate to create a clever company such as SOLS. The inventor says many people don’t have proper body alignment, yet don’t realize it. “They talk about it, complain about it, they go get massages, maybe change their mattress; they look at all these different aspects that could be causing it but ultimately, the simplest reason is that your body’s not aligned properly,” she says. “What orthotics do is they effectively change the geometry of what your alignment is like.”
Read more about Schouwenburg’s endeavor in her full CH25 profile.
Illustration by Jason Ratliff, images courtesy of Kegan Schouwenburg
