At long last wheelchairs are coming to market that use 21st Century advances in science. Here are two of them that use different technologies to produce attractive and manoeuvrable “Personal Mobility Devices” i.e. wheelchairs to you and me!
The first is the Whill , which we’ve talked about before. The video below shows it in practical use. However, it’s still only available in USA and Japan and costs the same as a small car – $14,000, but we love the ethos that it should look cool and be as compact and unobtrusive as possible. It’s so cool everyone will want one, able or not.
The next is the Genny Mobility Device from Switzerland, which is available in the UK through a distributor. At £13,500 it’s again expensive but another new way of looking at the wheelchair. It uses the “Segway self-balancing system combined with additional engineering to rid the wheelchair of two small directional wheels ……..”. As a result it can cope with any terrain but we’re not sure how much core body strength is required, as you need to make small movements to change direction.
We’re going to do a test drive and let you know the outcome. An accessory that comes with the Genny is the Scudo backrest which looks much better than anything we’ve found so far. We’ve often wondered why no-one has re-designed this crucial part of a wheelchair, a bit like the ergonomic car seat revolution that happened decades ago. We’re waiting to hear more about it, such as cost, but they do say it fits most wheelchairs.
Whatever the outcome it’s good to see some new concepts come to market….at last!