Two years ago, mechanical engineering student Joel An approached Nathan Hsu, his friend in the undergraduate Robinson Life Sciences, Business, and Entrepreneurship Program at Haas, with a business question. An, BS 25, (mechanical & aerospace engineering), had created a weighted vest that helped his mom navigate walking issues caused by Ataxia, a neurological condition that impacts balance. He wanted to make the vest available to the public, but didn’t know where to begin.
After talking, the pair went on to found startup Anchor Logics, which is working to commercialize the wearable technology. Since launching last year, Anchor Logics has taken steps forward, receiving support from Berkeley SkyDeck’s Pad-13 incubator for early-stage start-ups and the National Science Foundation I-Corps. The team recently nabbed third place at the UC LAUNCH 2025 Demo Day, winning $10,000.
Alongside Ashok Sundararaman, MIDS 24, and Srinikhil Vemuri, MEng 25, the team has tested the smart vest on 214 patients with conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to multiple sclerosis and stroke. Pre-clinical trials showed the vest improved patients’ balance and speed and decreased their risk of falling by 37%.
“We’ve watched people’s balance improve and their gait stabilize,” said Hsu, BS/BA 24, who has served as Anchor’s CEO since he graduated. “Physical therapists have emailed us saying, ‘I’ve worked with ataxia patients for a lot of my career, and I used to think it was nearly impossible to improve their gait, but your vest changed all of this.”
For Hsu and An, the work started as a side project to help more people like An’s mom improve body position and foot landing when walking.
They didn’t imagine it would turn into a business until An took the vest to South Korea and reached out to patient groups online to see if they were interested in testing it. Some of these patients wore the vest to their medical appointments. They reported back that their doctors were surprised and impressed, which led Hsu and An to run their first preclinical trials in South Korea.
Their first product is a wearable vest called PIEZO, (the Greek word for pressure.) The team is now building the second iteration of the vest, incorporating computer vision in addition to artificial intelligence.
Working out the kinks
PIEZO looks like a typical weighted vest that runners often wear to increase their fitness. But every person with balance problems has a different gait. Typically, a patient would have to visit a physical therapist, who would help tailor the vest by adjusting the weight.
With PIEZO, the wireless technology monitors a person’s balance in real time and adjusts the weight without the need to visit a doctor or physical therapist. The sensor on the machine-washable vest connects to a mobile app and all data can be stored in the cloud. The technology tracks the user’s progress and generates reports for medical teams.
“It tracks the person’s left and right sway and back and forth sway,” said An, the chief technology officer. “The computer analyzes the sway data and figures out where we need to compensate for their loss of balance.”
An’s mother provided feedback that helped them work out kinks. For one, she told them that the vest should have a double zipper, so the wearer could loosen the vest at the bottom when sitting. For people with difficulty moving, the option to unzip is much easier than taking the vest on and off throughout the day.
As they’ve worked on improving the technology, the team has also learned how to run a business, navigating regulatory and commercial hurdles. Through UC LAUNCH, the team learned how to tell the story of their business and create a pitch. Their advisors and mentors have also taught them about different regulatory pathways and facilitated meetings with FDA consultants and manufacturers.
The team is planning to run clinical studies in the near future. With the backing from angel investors, all four members will soon be working full-time on Anchor Logics.
Like An, all team members have at least one close family member with a neurological condition that affects balance.
“They say most start-ups fail, but for us, being able to help one person or a few people, seeing their lives change and transform, is what makes it all worth it,” Hsu said. “That’s how we define success.”
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