Chariot Innovations

Chariot Innovations Inc. is a research driven company birthed out of Baylor University’s lab to market (LTM) initiative. It is focused on developing innovative technologies that improve quality of life by utilizing movement to address a wide variety of fitness, disability, and related healthcare challenges. The company name, Chariot, was inspired by the Bible reference in 2 Kings 6:17, about God’s provision of “horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha,” envisioning the Chariot as a symbol of strength, protection, and movement, lifting and carrying people forward to peace, freedom, and fullness of life. The MiraColt from Chariot Innovations is a Therapeutic Medical Device that imparts to its rider natural, complex, three-dimensional motion patterns similar to those experienced when walking or when riding a horse. The MiraColt was inspired by the benefits of hippotherapy, which is a treatment strategy that includes time riding on a horse. Hippotherapy is a form of evidence-based physical, occupational and speech therapy practice in which a therapist purposely utilizes the characteristic movement (or gait) of a horse to provide carefully graded motor and sensory (i.e., neuro-muscular) input to engage sensory, neuromotor and cognitive (i.e., thought, behavior, relational and task processing) systems to promote functional outcomes. Hippotherapy has been applied toward the treatment of various conditions, including Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autism (ASD), Parkinsonism and during Stroke Rehabilitation. The MiraColt was carefully designed to realistically replicate the complex horse-riding motion patterns based on three-dimensional motion capture data of simulated hippotherapy riding sessions. It's been applied as a horse riding simulator to deliver neuro-muscular stimulation benefits for people with CP, ASD, Parkinsonism and Stroke. It has also been used for fitness and athletic performance such as improving muscle tone, strength, flexibility, balance and agility.