Despite most large universities claim they are fully wheelchair accessible, a lot of disabled students wouldn’t agree.

This drove Nick to build CAMP, an interactive campus map which rates all pedestrian pathways on their level of accessibility. This resource would help students in managing the current accessibility limitations of their campus, while universities undertake long-term modifications of existing pedestrian pathway infrastructure.

When Suman met Matt Brock, a blind communications professional who had lost his sight at 33, they started brainstorming about how Google Glass technology could be used to help blind to be more mobile and independent.

Hoping to develop a sort of “OnStar” for the blind, the engineer built camera-equipped smart glasses that connect to virtual dashboards, allowing human agents to view and describe a user's environment. Agents typically respond to a summons in less than 10 seconds and assist for the duration of discrete tasks.

The student became paraplegic after a swimming accident when she was a teenager. She is paralysed from her chest down, with limited use of her hands.

The invention consists of a long, flexible wire with a camera that can display live images of a patient's skin, eyes, ear, nose, throat and mouth onto any mobile device. It can also enhance images and has its own WiFi network to ensure the recordings are safety transmitted. This solution allows Molly, despite her limitations, to perform full-body patient exams with limited physical contact.

He was always an inventor at heart. When he was a teenager, he came up with a design for an electronic gadget to help blind people from his community to see. However, “an (inventor) who doesn’t get down on the same level (as the people for which his is designing) is not likely to be very successful,” Ralf said.

After an accident in 1966, Ralf became paraplegic. This inspired him to re-invent the wheelchair. He wanted to develop a wheelchair that would work in every environment and that would also be accessible to anyone.

The team invented a fibreglass design that relies on the patient, who can’t speak or write, to communicate by only blinking an eye. They produced prototypes of this hand-held battery-powered tablet and gave them to other patients who were at Megumi’s hospital.

After feedback from these patients, some modifications were made.

The device can be used by people who struggle with the following: strokes, motor-loss, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral syndrome, motor neurone disease, cerebral palsy and speech impairment.

Shaun’s grandfather, who was 84 years old at the time, loves to fish. However, it was getting hard for him to fish because of his arthritis, which was affecting his grip.

So his grandson took action by developing orthorod, a homemade device that allows the user to hold the fishing pole more comfortable.

Shaun spent about 11 USD to develop this solution.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2KYQlZQ

Paula wants to work in hand therapy at a skilled nursing facility after she graduates.

The student’s mother, who struggles with carpal tunnel syndrome, has a hard time dressing by herself because of her condition, which causes her hands to hurt.

Chance was born without arms and legs (he doesn’t have legs but has partial feet and arm stumps).

It’s hard for the boy to navigate around their home and engage with other people. There are self-propelled wheelchairs, but no motorised solutions available on the market.

So Chance’s family made a request to charity May We Help (an organisation that develops gadgets to increase the autonomy level of disabled people).

Jack is a physically disabled young boy who plays the violin. He wanted a custom adaption to play his violin, and that’s when Bill Sand, a volunteer from the charity May We Help (an organisation that develops gadgets to increase the autonomy level of disabled people), stepped in.

Bill developed a violin bow using 3D printing technology, plastic and metal. This new bow allows Jack to have more control over his instrument. This also gives him more confidence as a musician.

Patrick is a young boy who struggles with autism and has difficulties with sensory overload. He is constantly moving, and he needed to have a place where we could just sit and focus on his homework. This calm place would also enable him to enjoy some screen time, concentrate and relax, performing repetitive calming behaviours.

So Patrick’s family and therapists asked for help, and they got it from Bob Woolf, a volunteer from the charity May We Help (an organisation that develops gadgets to increase the autonomy level of disabled people).

Abby needed something that allowed to keep her feet positioned and stable on the wheelchair footrest. She is paralysed from the chest down after having sustained a spinal cord injury. The girl has limited movement her arms and no fine motor control in her fingers.

Sarai loves to paint with her feet and she even got a special brace that went over her foot that a paintbrush went in. But since that piece was misplaced, she stopped painting.

Her family tried to come up with a solution by taping a paintbrush to her feet and taping the project to a box that is placed on the floor under her foot. But the brush and the canvas kept falling off, and it was uncomfortable for her. This was very hard for Sarai since she has no use of her hands and loves to be able to create her works of art in an autonomous way.

Matthew’s school desk was a hurdle in his learning. The specialist team that deals with the boy’s angry behaviours were not able to get him to do things and learn, as he was always distracted. Matthew’s family was not able to find a desk on the market that would meet his needs, and they couldn’t design a desk themselves.

That’s when they met Bob Woolf, Eileen Bloustien and Janet Garner, from the charity May We Help (an organisation that develops gadgets to increase the autonomy level of disabled people).

Grace wanted a device that she could pedal and that would take her, fast, everywhere around the house.

She uses a power wheelchair at school and in the community to move independently. However, since she lives in a ranch house, her wheelchair gets dirty to bring inside and it’s not so comfortable to use indoors.

Her family wanted her to have a powered cart that would sit slow to the ground so that Grace to get on and off by herself and enable her to go anywhere faster around the house.

Due to his condition, Jack lives with self-injurious behaviours, which makes difficult for his mother to leave him alone. So she wanted him to wear a garment that would leave him safe.

The boy, who is non-verbal, loves to walk without assistance but he can’t find good balance because of his body movements. He also likes to crawl to windows, walls or furniture and bang his head as hard as he can. So a solution was needed, to prevent him to hurt himself.

Easton is a wheelchair user but he uses switches and he is gaining the ability to do more.

Gretchen M., Anna’s physical therapist, reached out to the charity May We Help (an organisation that develops gadgets to increase the autonomy level of disabled people). So Tom Fitzgibbons, a volunteer, took action.

Betty and Jason Vertin have five children and three of them suffer from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. They used a medical stroller for one of the kids and a double stroller for the young ones.

Amelia was 12 years old at the time and had had over 60 surgeries. She got a new 3-wheeled bike to help increase her physical activity. However, when it’s hot, she can’t be outside for long. And during winter and fall, it’s too cold for her. Her father wanted her to have something made to rest the bike in so she could use it indoors. He knew that these devices are available for traditional bicycles, but he couldn’t find this for trikes.

Abe Harris was born without arms. He started to feel that his prosthetics were more of an imposition rather than a solution. So, when he was 16, he learned to drive without them.

In 2011, his daughter was starting to ride a bicycle and Abe wanted to join her. “When she got faster. I needed a way to stay with her”, he confessed. But Abe couldn’t ride bicycles because of the traditional handlebars.