Tag: Mobility

I’ve heard of couch potatoes before, but never bed potatoes. But here to prove there is such a thing, a 39-year-old man from China named Zhu Jianqiang went and built himself a joystick-controlled bed so he never has to get out from under the sheets to go about his day.

In order to get factory workers from area to another in its massive plants, BMW is introducing its own personal movers concept. Their facilities are often massive spaces, and employees spend way too much time getting from place to place.

Acton is showing off some cool new skates that are now available to pre-order. Rocket Skates might be a misleading name –  they’re not actually propelled by rockets, and that is probably a good thing. The battery-powered R5 Rocket Skates look a bit like wheelchairs for your feet and are sure to get you noticed.

Wheelchairs have difficulties moving about in snow, but no longer thanks to Wheelblades. These small skis can be easily mounted on the front wheels of wheelchairs or baby buggies, significantly improving their mobility in snow and ice.

Motorized wheelchairs, while very practical, are very expensive as well. Designer Ju Hyun Lee created the NEWS concept to reap the benefits of a motorized wheelchair without the prohibitive costs. The motorized add-on would attach to conventional wheelchairs, fusing man and machine, Power Xtreme!

Rhodri Armour, a PhD student from the University of Bath, has invented a robot that he hopes will be a model for future space exploration and land surveying robots. Called the Jollbot, it’s a spherical robot that rolls over smooth terrain and jumps “like a grasshopper” when it encounters obstacles.