Mobility Aid

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.

In the past we've seen experimental one-off canes that detected obstacles via ultrasound, or which allowed their users to locate people that they know. While the iCane can't do either of those things, it is possibly headed for production – and it does still have some handy tricks up its sleeve.

​3D-printing has been used to great effect in the development of prosthetic aids, patient-tailored​​ medical devices and body parts. Now, Eliza Wrobel has used additive manufacturing to make the humble walker even more useful for those suffering from limb disabilities who want to stay active.

Prosthetic and orthotic devices can help patients regain mobility and limb function, but the process takes time and labor. U-M researchers are developing a system that uses 3D printing to create assistive devices that are better tailored to each individual in less than a day.

We're not sure 2016 quite matched the sheer off-road weirdness of 2015, and its nomadic minivans and recreational tanks, but it definitely brought a vast variety of off-road vehicles for all tastes and types. From 6x6 trucks to flying ATVs, here are the best new off-road vehicles.

The Smart-Drive MX2 is an electric drive designed to attach to an ordinary wheelchair and give a boost up hills and over difficult surfaces whenever it's needed.

We've already seen experimental "white canes" that allow blind users to get a sense of their surroundings via ultrasound and lasers. The XploR mobility cane, however, uses its onboard electronics towards another end – to help users locate people that they know.

Just because you have difficulty walking doesn't mean that you should be limited to the smooth sidewalks of the world ... at least, not according to Zoomability. Its Zoom 4-wheel drive electric vehicle can be operated entirely by hand, allowing people with limited mobility to go off-road.

For folks who have limited mobility, often all that's needed is a little something to lessen the amount of walking that they have to do. A number of lightweight folding electric wheelchairs have emerged to serve that market. One of the latest, the Zinger, is also reportedly the lightest.