Wheelchairs bringing a ray of hope in bleak lives of physically disabled

Designed as a part of final-year university project, the elevating wheelchair by Jake Eadie, an Australia based designer, is an innovative but at the same time practical way to help and support physically disabled, enabling them to move around and accomplish their routine tasks. Read more

Designed specifically for people with physical disabilities, the Movetto px4 by designer Pamela Lindgren is a functional wheelchair that moves like a Segway and doubles as a car seat to drive the car. Adding comfort and mobility to the life of physically challenged, the power wheelchair is not only user friendly and convenient but also ensures safety by including a seat belt. Read more

Designed specifically for domestic/indoor use, the “Nimbl” by designer Lawrence Kwok is a unique wheelchair that gives increased access without sacrificing mobility within the home. Featuring a carbon fiber tub which houses the 10″ lift actuator, motorized hubless wheels and interchangeable battery, the wheelchair also integrates a magnetically placed armrest remote that allows both right- and left-handed control. Read more

Combining an 1875 Eastlake Victorian platform rocking chair with a Permobil C300 Power wheelchair, designer Daniel Valdez has come up with a boozing wheelchair to enlighten the not-so-kicking souls doomed to live, away from mainstream, in seclusion. Entitled the “Steampunk Professor X chair,” the steampunk wheelchair also integrates a digital amped sound system, Vodka cranberry dispenser, an event triggered sound processor and a portable smoke machine to rock the static routine of the physically impaired in style.Read more

Adding mobility to the life of the disabled, a group of South Korean designers, including Min-Goo Kim, Yun-Jin Chang and Su-Eun Park, has come up with an innovative wheelchair that produces and accumulates electricity, as the disabled move it during the day, to light their way at night. This not only makes mobility safe for the users, but also produces green energy and supports a green lifestyle. Read more

Making mobility easy and brisk for the wheelchair users, designer Thomas Ross in collaboration with Dave Cochrane has come up with a smart mobility aid concept that combines a teardrop extrusion, located at the back, with Herman Miller’s Aeron chair fabric, the Pellicle, to negate the negative effects of contemporary wheelchairs. Read more

Fluency in mobility isn’t the only sticky situation for a patient on a wheelchair, but it’s also the inability to reach out to objects on shelves and other places. Designer Nicolas Bonhommeau has worked out a solution for the latter in his Elevating Wheelchair. The wheelchair with larger rear wheels and handrails is designed to help the low mobility persons to elevate themselves off the ground on this user propelled wheelchair and thus rise up to access high objects. Read more

Moving from bed to wheelchair, and vice versa, on their own often become difficult for physically challenged, making them dependent on others for their basic needs. Providing a solution to the problem for the disabled, designer Patrick Decker has devised a multifunctional unit named “Combed” that when required slides out from under its U-shaped bed frame to form a wheelchair without wasting time as well as efforts. Read more

Essentially designed for developing nations, the “Structural Foam Wheelchair” is a portable wheeled mobility device that lets the disabled move briskly and effortlessly over rough terrain. Designed to be pulled both manually and with motorized propulsion, the new wheelchair is finished in foam, which not only makes it light in weight but low in price as well. Read more

Inspired by the hubless motorcycles and bicycles, designer Jonathan O’Conner has designed a ‘hubless wheelchair’ that will make commuting effortless for the physically challenged. Intended for young and active disabled individuals, the hubless wheelchair comes with a supportive mesh fabric seat suspended on a lightweight carbon fiber frame.Read more

Katie Carlson, an industrial Design graduate from Ohio State University, designed an adjustable wheelchair for physically challenged children falling between the age group of 3-10 years. The frame of the wheelchair ranges from 10 inches to 18 inches. The width wise adjustment of the frame is altered by three removable bars of differing lengths keeping with the strength of the frame. It also provides a footrest that shrivels to fit in the legs of multiple users. Read more

Lending a helping hand, Argentine designer Francisco Lupin has come up with a functional wheelchair that combines the qualities of an average wheelchair with a sports wheelchair to give certainty about the rigidity of the structure. Designed for the people with reduced motor skills in the lower limbs, the all mountain wheelchair integrates a suspension system that adapts to the weight of the user, together with a regulator of camber in the front wheels and an adjustable belt. Read more

UK-based designer Ben Thorpe has come up with a fully electric, lifting wheelchair that presenting a lifting mechanism lifts the user in an upright position to improve their reach, so they could converse face-to-face with people in their day-to-day lives. The “Urban Wheelchair,” as the designer hails his design, moves on hubless wheels with a tightly packed ball bearing system to reduce rolling resistance, which not only gives it a trendy looks but also increases its efficiency. Read more

Tankchair is an interesting wheelchair the features pneumatic tires, bigger wheels, stronger motors and a hellish jet ski/snowmobile looking thing with wheels to ride the user in style. Read more

Normal granddads sit on porches in their boxers and yell at little kids to get off their lawn, they don't, as a rule, rob banks in Palo Alto, Calif. Although, this is exactly what happened earlier this week at a Wachovia bank. A man described as between 65 and 70 and bearded rolled into the bank in his electric wheelchair and proceeded to rob the place at gunpoint. Read more