From experience came a vision.
SIMO wasn’t born in a conference room. It grew out of more than 25 years of hands-on experience with wheelchair users and individual wheelchair fittings.
Behind the idea stands Dimitris Gkaintatzis – mechanical engineer, wheelchair specialist and founder of Wheel Rehabilitation Products in Greece.
Dimitris Gkaintatzis
Dimitris began his career in rehabilitation technology in 1994. In 2000, he founded Wheel Rehabilitation Products in Thessaloniki.
Wheel combines engineering expertise with hands-on experience in wheelchairs, seating and positioning. At its core has always been the individual person: their body, their movement, and what they personally need from a wheelchair.
Through his daily work, Dimitris recognized a fundamental problem: wheelchair users often couldn’t tell how their new wheelchair would actually feel until after it was built.
That realization led to a defining question:
“Why shouldn’t a person be able to experience and help decide how their future wheelchair should fit – before it’s built?”
Wheel Rehabilitation Products is founded in Thessaloniki.
Dimitris develops the idea for a simulator that lets people test different wheelchair configurations before ordering.
The first functional SIMO prototype is built.
SIMO 2.0 brings the system forward, both technically and in practice.
SIMO 3.1 is ready for use and is presented to an international audience at REHACARE in Düsseldorf.
SIMO Europe GmbH is founded by Dimitris and led together with Ralf Elter. Both are experienced wheelchair specialists who share the same passion.
SIMO is used internationally and continues to evolve together with wheelchair users, professionals and partners.
Dimitris Gkaintatzis and Ralf Elter, Managing Directors of SIMO Europe GmbH
A wheelchair shouldn’t be a decision made for a person. It should be a decision made together with them.
With SIMO, wheelchair users can experience different seating positions and configurations before their new wheelchair is ordered. They feel the difference immediately and can actively help decide which setting truly fits their body and their everyday life.
Dimitris’ vision is to make this possible for wheelchair users everywhere in the world.
The goal isn’t just a better wheelchair configuration. It’s about more comfort, less avoidable physical strain, and a better quality of life.