Collegian challenges 'silver' industry
.jpg?w=728)
Lee Hwan-hee / Yonhap
By Jhoo Dong-chan
A sophomore at Konkuk University has jumped into a “silver” business related to senior citizens.
Majoring in business administration, Lee Hwan-hee, 20, has always been interested in inventing things to make life easier for the elderly. He has invented several kitchen and stationary items since he was a middle-school student.
He decided to invent a walker when he was a high school student after seeing an elderly woman struggling up a steep hill.
At first, Lee surveyed the existing products in the market, looking for their shortcomings. He even interviewed several old people in his neighborhood.
Lee found that the elderly were dissatisfied with their walkers because most required significant upper-body strength.
For his new walker, Lee applied a rest rack on which users can rest their elbows, dispersing the amount of required body strength. The walker also offers a height adjustment so the elderly can lean onto it more easily.
By folding the rest rack, the walker also transforms into a wheelchair.
Before he entered university, Lee got a patent for his invention and called it the “Cozy Walker.”
With his Cozy Walker, Lee founded his own firm, Cozy Care, in November.
Lee has also secured the international patent right and trademark registration for the Cozy Walker. He is now attempting to establish mass-production lines in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The Cozy Walker will be commercially produced in the latter half of this year, Lee said.
In addition to the walker, Lee has invented several items for the elderly, such as a wheelchair canopy, and he holds 11 patents in Korea.
Lee said “silver” products had become a growth industry as Korea’s population ages, but companies making similar products did so without consultation with old people.
“My goal is to become a ‘global hidden champion’ in the silver industry,” Lee said.
“Whenever I invent something for the elderly, I will put myself in my grandmother’s shoes, questioning what she needs and wants.”