Mobility Aid

The ultimate in assistive mobility, Scewo’s Bro is the only self-balancing wheelchair able to rise up and climb stairs. This two-wheeled personal electric vehicle is delightfully intuitive to maneuver, as I found out first-hand at this year’s CES.

Garrett Brown invented the Steadicam, a tool that revolutionized the field of film production. His latest creation is a device known as the Zeen, which helps mobility-challenged users not only to get around, but also to stand up and sit down.

Although many seniors end up requiring some sort of mobility assistance, not all of them are wild about the stigma that comes with using a walker. That's where the Laufrad comes in, as it's a sleek adult-sized carbon fiber balance bike.

Chances are that if you think of someone who uses a walker, you picture them sedately making their way down a smooth sidewalk. Well, Rob's Walkers are for those other walker-users, who like getting into the woods and going off-road.

In the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease, some people develop a condition known as "gait freeze," in which they temporarily lose the ability to step forward. NexStride is designed to help, though, by giving them a laser target for their feet.

While some powered exoskeletons give able-bodied users "superstrength," others are designed simply to let physically-challenged people move about normally. A new version of the latter is said to be much lighter and more user-responsive than others on the market.

​Wearable mobility robots can be big and heavy, but they have the potential to help those who can't move to walk again or make light work of heavy objects. Harvard's Wyss Institute has revealed a soft exosuit that's lightweight and portable, and can provide both walking and running assistance.​

Taking inspiration from the traditional cane, a team of researchers has come up with a LiDAR-enabled robotic assistant which offers light-touch support for the mobility-impaired. Dubbed Canine, the device improves the user's spacial self-awareness, and thus, their walking stability.

Google Maps is getting better all the time, and today its utility expands even further with a new feature built specifically to help wheelchair users better navigate public transit routes.

Toyota's Concept-i introduced at CES earlier this year offered a glimpse of how artificially intelligent vehicles might interact with their users. The company has now added a couple of new concepts to this forward-thinking lineup.

New technologies could play a vital part in improving how the visually impaired navigate their day-to-day lives. Ideas like connected walking canes and high-tech glasses are gathering some real momentum, as are smart bands like the Sunu launching this month.

Researchers have revealed two new additions to a host of ride-on toy car designs produced by the Go Baby Go program. One battery-powered mover encourages late bloomers to rise up and take charge, while the other gets kids in on the throwing game action.