wheelchairs
Science
Toyota Scientists Succeed In Thought-Controlled Wheelchair
3:20AM Adam Frucci | Sure, brain wave-controlled robots, music, mobile phones, and games give us tech lust, but Toyota’s announcement that it’s developed a way to control a wheel chair—without the need for movement or voice—fills me with equal amounts of awesome. More »
Science
A Wheelchair Controlled By Man’s Mighty Will
3:10AM Mark Wilson | We’ve seen a few instances of mind-controlled wheel chairs, and now researchers from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, offer us yet another amazing prototype. More »
Design
H-ergo Wheelchair: Fuel Cells Aren’t Just For Young Whippersnappers
12:30PM Wilson Rothman | Even the Scooter Store demographic is getting greener these days. The four-wheeled H-ergo was designed by a coalition of companies in Italy with a hydrogen fuel cell for up to 2 hours of clean running. More »
Games
Ben Heck’s Blow-Powered Kick Pedal Lets People in Wheelchairs Enjoy Guitar Hero 4
3:45PM Elaine Chow | Super-modder Ben Heck has used his powers for good. Again! This time, he’s helping the wheelchair-bound enjoy Guitar Hero 4’s drums by using a blow-tube to operate the kick pedal. More »
Robots
Smart Wheelchair Features a Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm
6:40AM Sean Fallon | Researchers at the University of South Florida have developed a wheelchair robo-arm that can read brain waves and react accordingly. Naturally, this could change the lives of individuals with debilitating syndromes and spinal injuries. More »
Gadgets
Multi-Function Wheelchair Doubles As a Toilet
1:30PM Andi Wang | The Home Chare—yes, that’s chare, not chair—is a combination wheelchair for the disabled and for Jabba the Hutts. This device not only can be adjusted into a bed and standing aid, but also can double as a toilet via a replaceable seatless cushion. We can’t see how this toilet design is convenient though, unless, of course, you rode around in this wheelchair pantless or in a pair of asschaps. Since the Home Chare is currently not on the market, we hope this will give them time to fix the restroom-accessibility situation. [Product Page via Yanko] galleryPost('homecharedesign', 3, ' '); More »
Design
Walking Chair: Evolution Hasn’t Been Wasted on Places to Sit
11:30AM Mark Wilson | It’s called the walking chair, but we know better. This four-legged wheelchair replacement, on exhibit at Robo Japan 2008, is not about traversing uneven terrain or allowing mechanical creations to move more like organic beings. It’s about man fusing with both insects and robots to create a new race founded on pure 80s cartoon awesomeness. (Yeah, we know that insects have six legs and this thing only has four, but let’s not kill the moment just this once, alright?) [Akihabara News via DVICE] More »
Design
Wiimote Wheelchair Helps Disabled People Paint (Roughly Speaking)
1:30PM Benny Goldman | Digital Wheel Art, a wheelchair painting program to help disabled people make art was on display at the Maker Faire event in NYC tonight. Creator YoungHyun Chung was inspired to create the device after seeing children with cerebral palsy whose limited movement stifled their artistic expression. Here’s how it works, plus a video of the system in action. More »
Games
Rock Band Drum Kit Gets Wheelchair Accessible (With How To)
2:20AM Jason Chen | The folks at Kinetic Communications took the Rock Band Drum Kit, which totally isn’t wheelchair accessible thanks to its bass kick pedal, and put US$20 worth of their own accessibility mod into it to make sure it is. All it took was a doorbell, a Y cable, a pair of pliers and some sweat and they made a Rock Band kick pedal that can be activated from on the drumsticks. Super cool, Kinetic. Hit up their site to see how you can do this yourself. [Kinetic] More »
Vehicles
