Higher tech wheelchair ... v cool

Old Man

Old Man

Old Man

Associate
Joined
18 Aug 2010
Posts
2,119
Location
Scotland
An alternative to the older type of wheelchair and in this case an impressive direction for this new and old tech to present something which looks like it has a lot to offer:

 
This looks amazing. I'd want the chair to wrap around me properly, though. Looks too much like you could fall out of this one.
 
When I was at infants school (~1985) there was a kid with something similar, had electronic height adjustment as well - always been a bit surprised how uncommon non-low tech wheel chairs are ever since then. I think his parents were pretty well off though.
 
Limpnoodle said:
But what happens if god forbid someone has a heart attack on it
Click to expand...

That's actually a really good point. If someone loses control of their movements, what's to stop them just leaning a certain way involuntarily and then running themselves into the path of a car or something?
 
That's not especially useful for anyone who is paralysed anywhere above their lower lumbar as they simply cannot engage their core, so couldn't stabilize or control it..
 
Looks good, but it needs a seatbelt of some description. Also can it turn on a 6-pence? What if you're in a very tight spot and need to spin around? - I may have missed it in the video, watched it without audio.

The idea is there, and I think it's great they're moving forward with this tech :)
 
Phate said:
Looks good, but it needs a seatbelt of some description. Also can it turn on a 6-pence? What if you're in a very tight spot and need to spin around? - I may have missed it in the video, watched it without audio.

The idea is there, and I think it's great they're moving forward with this tech :)
Click to expand...

It can pretty much turn like that, it is based on segway in that respect. So one wheel will turn the other does not.

My thought is that it needs a hand-break. Stopping on momentum (at the speed it can do) alone isn't going to be so safe for the user or others.

Great idea though. Pioneering.
 
This isn't a new concept for wheelchairs, the iBot had something similar back in '99.

210dogy.gif


https://msu.edu/~luckie/segway/iBOT/iBOT.html

This used the Segway tech to allow a user to balance on the rear wheels. I recall being in the Apple Store in Regent Street next to a guy in one of these who was buying a lot of new Apple gear. It was very impressive to see it constantly adjusting itself to maintain balance. (I'm a manual wheelchair user).

Sadly this particular model didn't appear to sell well and stopped production in 2009, although it seems efforts are in place to develop a newer version.
 
Tom0 said:
It can pretty much turn like that, it is based on segway in that respect. So one wheel will turn the other does not.

My thought is that it needs a hand-break. Stopping on momentum (at the speed it can do) alone isn't going to be so safe for the user or others.

Great idea though. Pioneering.
Click to expand...

Ah cool, didn't see that :) - excellent!

If it stops too quickly it could topple forward?
 
Maybe so but then that is up to the user to gauge the breaks. I guess you could say the same for momentum then though.

Hmm. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom