Toyota Mobility Foundation has revealed the five finalists from their competition to find a way to pair smart technology with mobile technology. Qolo is just one of the ways the future of assisted mobility is being reimagined (Concept image by Simon Mckeown with Craig McMullen)
As technology advances, we start to rethink objects from refrigerators to cars in hopes to make them “smarter” and more efficient. Toyota hopes to do the same thing for wheelchairs. In 2016, Toyota Mobility Foundation, a charity set up in 2014 which aims to bring about “truly mobile society,” and Nesta launched a $4 million competition in search of new smart mobility technology to support those with lower-limb paralysis. Now, the contest is over and Toyota has revealed the five finalists.
Toyota and Nesta aimed to find teams who created what they called “personal mobility devices incorporating intelligent systems.” In other words, they aimed to find the best way to pair smart technology with assisted mobility systems. All of the finalists presented solutions that make us rethink how people with mobility issues get around.
The first is Qolo, a hybrid exoskeleton and wheelchair that allows you to sit or stand. Created by Team Qolo from the University of Tsukuba in Japan, the device fits around the waist and allows you to easily transition from sitting to standing. This allows you to chat with a person at standing eye level, yet you don’t lose the conventions of a traditional chair. Another contender is the Phoenix AI Ultralight Wheelchair, which balances itself to reduce vibrations and reconfigures itself to keep in sync with how you move.
Moby is an Italadesign-made service that gives you access to electric devices that’ll help you get around, similar to a bike sharing company. IHMC and MYOLYN’s Quix is a highly mobile and high powered exoskeleton that offers fast, stable, and agile upright mobility. Finally, The Evowalk, by Evolution Devices, is a non-intrusive sleeve the user wear around their leg that contains sensors to track the user’s walking motion. This will then stimulate the right muscles at the right time to improve mobility.
Each of the finalists received $500,000 to help develop their products. They will also attend tailored workshops, receive mentoring opportunities with engineering experts, and have the chance to collaborate with end users to further develop their concepts. The ultimate winner won’t be chosen until 2020, which is strangely in time for the Olympics. The winner will receive $1 million for their efforts.
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