GTX Corp  announced that its patented GPS tracking “Smart Shoe” will be commercially available in Canada this month.  The shoes, known as the “Aetrex Navistar GPS Shoes”, currently made under license by Aetrex Worldwide, Inc. (“Aetrex”), a global manufacturer and leader in comfort footwear, will be distributed by Safe Tracks GPS Solutions, Inc. (“Safe Tracks”), a GPS electronic monitoring and safety solution provider throughout Canada.

The Aetrex Navistar GPS Shoes, powered by GTX Corp, go on sale in Canada this month through Safe Track’s e-commerce Website, www.safetracksgps.ca. Further, Canada’s largest GSM cell phone provider, with over 9.2 million users servicing 95 percent of Canada’s population, will be the Canadian wireless provider for the GPS Shoes.
“We have been following the development of the GPS Smart Shoes and GTX since their U.S. launch last year.  Combining the Smart Shoe with our easy-to-use, web-based software solution, will give end users an experience previously unavailable in the Canadian Marketplace. Safe Tracks is proud to offer this new solution to Canadians, especially for the Alzheimer’s and Dementia demographics,” stated Bob Aloisio Director of Business Development at Safe Tracks.

According to the Alzheimer’s Society in Toronto, an estimated 500,000 Canadians have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia condition, and within a generation, that number will more than double, ranging between 1 and 1.3 million people.  The impact of Alzheimer’s and related dementias involves the sufferer’s entire family, and thus affects far more than the half million people who have been actually diagnosed with the disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the second most feared disease for Canadians as they age.

The patented GTX Corp technology in the Aetrex Navistar GPS Shoes enable  wearers to be monitored remotely, there by helping to ensure their safety, providing peace of mind to their caregivers, and reducing the cost of more frequent human oversight. The GPS Shoes are embedded with a miniaturized proprietary module, which contains the locator’s integrated GPS / Cellular chipset and the SIM card that is unique to each wearer.  The GPS Shoes will communicate via Roger’s Canada cellular network, and send location coordinates via a wireless data connection, similar to sending SMS messages on a cell phone. If the wearer of the GPS Shoes wanders outside of a pre-set location determined by the caregiver, an SMS or e -mail message will alert the caregiver instantly.

The GPS Shoes have been heralded by healthcare and technology authorities around the world, and are featured in the “100 Most Important Inventions of Mankind” exhibit in the National Museum of Science and Technology in Sweden.

“The GPS Shoes are a simple solution to a growing problem. Other devices are either too complicated or tend to be rejected by the Alzheimer’s and Dementia sufferers, but the Aetrex Navistar GPS Shoes have proven to be a more friendly and reliable means of keeping track of those who wander. As a result, Alzheimer’s sufferers who wear the Shoes are receiving better care and enjoying a more flexible lifestyle, while the cost of supervision they require is reduced,” stated Andrew Duncan , GTX Corp’s head of International licensing.