As soon as he recovered, Jason developed his own prosthetic device, but it wasn’t very flexible. He would be able to bang the drums by moving his elbow up and down, but he couldn’t control the speed or bounce of the stick without a wrist or fingers.
So he asked for Gil Weinberg’s help. "I couldn't say no. So I wrote an NSF [National Science Foundation] proposal to fund it, recruited a team... we plan to write a much larger NSF proposal and build a new and improved device”, the mentor explained.
The robot, made of BPA plastics, works by having an arm which feeds the person. But first, the caregiver has to teach the robot the delivery location, and then it will take charge.
The arm selects virtually any properly sized food from one of four compartments. Then it delivers the food to one of several thousand potential locations where the diner can eat from the spoon.
Obi has a rechargeable battery which can work for about four hours, and can be carried around easily. On average, the device can serve from four to six meals without having to be recharged.
Because he has a disability, Victor can’t use his right hand to hold the steel balls while he is playing. So he developed a belt which can carry the steel balls, without Victor having to bend and grab the balls each time he has to, because when he throws in his left hand, he can’t hold the balls in his right hand.
So with this solution, he can carry the steel balls at hip height, without having the risk of falling.
It consists of a shopping cart, made of PVC pipe, tick netting and wheels, that is lower to the ground and shallower than regular shopping carts, making it easier for people using wheelchairs to grocery shop, by having two levels. The heavier items are meant to be placed on top, which is adjustable. The cart has maneuverable handles so that a wheelchair-bound person can push it with minimal effort and awkwardness.
“A regular shopping cart is deeper than a person in a wheelchair can reach. You have a risk of falling”, the inventor explained.
He developed this solution because he spends a lot of time peeling plaintain bananas (about almost 500kg of plantain bananas daily).
“I have to peel some 400kg to 500kg of pisang tanduk (plaintain bananas) every day. More often than not, the sharp blades of the knife would injure me. Although the skin of the pisang tanduk is harder than the usual type of banana, it is still soft enough to be peeled with blunt knives. So I set out to make my own tool”, he explained.
“It's hard for the nurses to open the band aids because they are wearing gloves. When they ask my mum to do it, she struggles as well because she has long nails”, said the girl, explaining what drove her to create this product.
Gina developed this solution to feed her son Tristan, and because she was always carrying around extra utensils for snacks every time she was going out.
"I wanted to be able to feed him real foods like bananas and avocados and those are things that went well with his stomach and I needed something I could use easily on the road, on the go, on the soccer fields a lot and that's where the idea came from”, the mother explained.
The Yummy Spoon is simple to use. The parent removes the cap, puts in soft and natural food, and then squeezes it into the babie’s mouth.
This solution, invented in 2007, is called "Bubble Wrap® Cosmetic Covering Shell for Artificial Legs in Developing Countries”, and has the purpose of quickly adapting, by turning any basic artificial limb to give it muscle-like tone and shape. This helps the user feel more confident. The device is made of a lightweight material, and is a very low cost option.
Bubble Wrap® Cosmetic Covering Shell for Artificial Legs in Developing Countries is produced by using a heat gun to mold Bubble Wrap cushioning around the steel rod of the prosthetic.
Ivan goes to an experimental progressive school that specifically educates children with mobility disorders, and were the students are taught to unleash their talents. So the student learned how to code.
During classes, the developer met a girl who had such limited ability to communicate that she could only choose between two options, using pictures, words or gestures.
The student then went home thinking about a software that would replicate these actions, without the user having to carry around all the time pictures and cards.
Patrick asked his former boss, Johan Verdonckt, who is a car repairman and builds carriages, to help him create a way to be in a carriage while sitting on his wheelchair.
Johan invented a way to accommodate a wheelchair, and then started making new models.
The adaption consists of using metal fitted with suspensions, brake pads, tires, ramps and tether straps.
Each of these wheelchairs cost a few thousands euros.
Having a background in both ergonomics and human factors engineering, Yamile started thinking about ideas to make her son feel her presence when she couldn’t be around. So the mother built a bean-filled gardening glove that she tucked against her son every night.
By using the glove during the day, it acquired her scent, so the device would have the mother’s scent and warmth, making the baby feel better.
Tom felt the need to create different splints because the traditional ones were difficult to put on, because of the Velcro, and were cumbersome and not very nice to look at.
“After the accident it soon became quite obvious there was a lack of wrist supports to help with brachial plexus injuries. I was looking for something minimal. All the wrist supports I’ve had were very medical and stood out, and the more I was recovering, the less I wanted it to look like I had an injury”, the patient explained.
Wii Go circulates easily through the corridors and shelves. The groceries are put inside a bag or a box carried by the robot, and it is always following the owner. It identifies the obstacles in the way, allowing the user to shop around with having to drive the cart. In order to use it, the owner has just to place himself in front of the robot, and press start. In a few seconds, the Wii Go cameras make a 3D recognition of the user as the person to follow around. The robot will always be following the owner, keeping a safety distance and avoiding obstacles along the way.
"He told me how small gestures like this were helpful, and that got me thinking about how to address challenges faced by people with one functioning arm," the inventor explained.
The solutions has three parts: Consists of a series of modular units that aids the user in various kitchen processes from food preparation to dish washing. The used material was a major concern for the designer.
"The material had to be of the right tension and flexibility. Even the design of the bumps was considered. If the bump was like a small cross, it could collect dust," Loren expressed.
Janna was inspired by the frustrations he felt himself when he was in a wheelchair for a few months, recovering from an accident. Additionally, the designer was also driven to create this device due to Letu, a Samburu man disabled by poliomyelitis he met when he was a child. This man, disabled since birth, lives an isolated, traditional lifestyle with his family in the wilderness. He has no access to health care, which means he had to crawl and be carried by others, having no autonomy.
“In some places, like the library in my town, the ramps are far away from handicap parking and the entrance to the building. It would be so much easier if my walker was more like an all-terrain vehicle and could go over curbs or stairs”, the girl expressed.
So Sadie took action. She had the idea for this solution when she was seven years old, while recovering from surgery at the hospital.
The signpost used by this system allows to recognize the space as a reference in accessibility and to provide information on the current state of accessibility conditions of the place, and can be used in various situations (ex: in the door of the establishment, in the tourism platform of the city, tourism platforms Accessible, event posters, social networks, etc ...).
Sean was an inventor and a builder since he was 14 years old. Every time time he had a chance, we would be working in his garage or shop.
But then a new opportunity came up: To put his skills to work by helping a loved one.
“I thought this was a great opportunity for me to have fun with her, considering I like everything with wheels. I quickly realized that pre-made chairs, bikes and sports equipment for people who have special needs cost way too much for the average family to afford”, he explained.
He quickly idealized a wristband that could contain a tracking mechanism that visitors could connect with on their phones, saving hospital staff the trouble of giving directions, preventing family member to wander around the hospital, and keeping the patients safe.
“I remember looking at my Dad's wristband and thinking it could be useful for more than just a name”, the boy recalled.
When Benjamin was 15, he did a lot of research and got $6,000 fuding from crowdsourcing, and later on he founded his own startup.
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