ORPHE INSOLE

Currently, gait analysis and posture correction rely on specialized sensor rooms or hospital examination equipment, making it difficult for the general public to use them in everyday life. For example, if athletes or patients want to obtain accurate gait data, they have to measure it with expensive equipment in a laboratory, or wearable devices only roughly track body movements, making it difficult to know plantar pressure or balance information. As a result, there have been limitations in securing continuous data and feedback for injury prevention and rehabilitation.

ORPHE INSOLE emerged by recognizing the gap that *"there is no everyday device that precisely analyzes gait"*, aiming to overcome the limitations of existing gait analysis methods by collecting clinical-level biomechanical data in everyday environments.

ORPHE INSOLE is innovative in terms of sensor configuration and ease of use compared to existing smart shoes/insoles. Without increasing the thickness, the insole incorporates6 pressure sensors and a 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU)to provide a comfortable fit while operating continuously for more than 24 hours. This device simultaneously performs algorithm-based gait assessment and on-device AI motion recognition, enabling the collection of exercise data with laboratory-grade accuracy in everyday environments.

In addition, by releasing the open-source SDK and developer library, researchers, clinicians, and industry partners can use this platform to develop custom applications. This open innovation is a major differentiator from competing products, demonstrating that ORPHE INSOLE pursues rapid innovation through ecosystem building.

In summary, the core competitive advantage is achieving clinical precision + everyday wearability + wireless charging + an open platform.

This product targets a niche market that lies on the border between B2B and B2C. The main adopters are rehabilitation medicine experts, physical therapy clinics, and sports science researchers who need accurate gait data, and they can use it for clinical/research purposes (tracking patient rehabilitation progress, analyzing athlete performance, etc.). At the same time, consumers interested in professional runners or healthcare (e.g., marathoners, the elderly for fall prevention) are also potential customers.

In other words, it can be seen as a B2B2C form where *"experts pay the cost, but the end users are individuals"*. Initially, it is expected to be distributed mainly to global research institutes and sports teams (B2B), including Japan, and then expand to the general public (B2C) who enjoy exercise as the price decreases.

The ORPHE INSOLE itself is a universally common shoe insole shape worldwide, so it can be applied without national or regional restrictions. However, since it claims medical device-level accuracy, some functions may require medical device certification in each country, and personal information protection regulations must be followed in data use.

Other than that, the regulatory risk is low, so it can be expanded to various fields such as healthcare, sports, and work environment improvement. For example, it is possible to monitor the elderly at risk of falls, early detection of musculoskeletal diseases, or commercialize it as smart shoes for consumers in collaboration with shoe manufacturers. As a company that developed the world's first smart shoes, ORPHE also has the potential to expand its portfolio to other wearable devices using its accumulated sensor technology.

In summary, although it is currently focused on the sports and rehabilitation fields, it has the scalability to enter various markets as a general-purpose foot measurement platform technically.

ORPHE INSOLEwon the Best of Innovation award in the Sports & Fitness category at CES 2026,and its technology was recognized. As reported by a Japanese media outlet that *"it looks like an ordinary insole, but it collects exercise data with sensors inside,"* its innovation was highly evaluated in that it is an everyday item on the outside but high-tech on the inside. Markets and experts praise the combination of clinical-level precision and portability, and also highly regard practical completeness such as 24-hour use with wireless charging.

In addition, the research and medical community is showing a positive response to the attempt to build a data sharing and collaboration ecosystem through an open SDK. However, there is also a realistic outlook that the *"smart insole"* product group itself is not popular, so if the market size is limited and the price is high, it will take time to spread to general consumers.

Overall, it is mainly praised as an *"innovative product that bridges the gap between clinical and daily life,"* and is accepted as a niche but necessary innovation rather than being overvalued.