Friday, July 3, 2009

Elevating wheelchair hopes to give wheelchair users better eye contact with nondisabled people

From dvice.com:

The Elevating Wheelchair concept (pictured) hopes to change the perception of the physically-challenged.

Unlike Dean Kamen's ultra-mobile iBot, the design of the Elevating Wheelchair is meant to restore a measure of equality when it comes to looking other people in the eye. Designed by Melbourne student Jake Eadie, the concept design hopes to change the way we see wheelchair-bound people by giving them a kind of equal footing in day-to-day body language situations.

The Elevating Wheelchair would have two modes, sitting and standing, and employ durable shock absorbers for rough urban terrain.