Health app for wheelchair users

A new app will motivate wheelchair users to exercise and make it possible to track the result. The app is being developed by the company AnyBody Technology A/S in cooperation with Bevica Fonden, fitness instructor and wheelchair user Cathrine Gulberg – and a number of other experts. The project takes off in September 2018. The first test version is expected ready at the end of 2019.

How can you count ”steps” as a wheelchair user and achieve the recommended 10000 steps a day? How can you set goals for your exercise and track the result? These are the exact questions the development of the MoveChair health app revolved around.

The ambition is to develop an app that will motivate wheelchair users to exercise and enable tracking of the result - exactly as you would with other health apps – and then again not quite. You cannot count steps or track your running distance, you can however, track the development of muscle strength, metabolism and the distance driven in a manual wheelchair.

The plan is also for the app to motivate people to do exercises focussing on strenght and cardio training. And there is a need for new initiatives to support physical activity, says Thorkild Olesen, chairman of Danske Handicaporganisationer (the Danish disability organization):

People with disabilities need an active and healthy lifestyle like everyone else. Regrettably, surveys show that people with disabilities are more prone to lifestyle diseases and are generally more overweight. This is why the development of health promoting initiatives is important, so that disabled people can lead healthy lives.

Cathrine Guldberg, fitness instructor and wheelchair user, is looking forward to contributing to the project as a member of the sounding board.

”I have lacked inspiration to train and have had to come up with my own excercises and training programs, so motivation is important. Another motivating factor is to set goals for yourself and actually track the results. I miss that today.”

Further information

Jørgen Rosenkilde, CEO of AnyBody Technology A/S, tel. +45 9635 4286, jro@anybodytech.com

Marianne Kofoed, Director of Bevica Fonden, tel. +45 5060 0660, mko@bevica.dk

About AnyBody Technology A/S

AnyBody Technology A/S is a spin-off from Aalborg University and was founded in 2002. From day one, the company has been developing software for analysis and simulation of the human musculoskeletal system. The company’s products are used world wide in industries such as orthopedics, rehabilitation, sports, aerospace and defense.

www.anybodytech.com