It is a fact that it is troublesome to move around the city at the best of times; however, individuals having mobility issues can resemble an obstacle course and a maze wrapped into one. As per the survey of the UK national travel, individuals having mobility issues took 39% fewer trips as compared to those with no issues of mobility in 2017. However, numbers tend to change because devices, mobility solutions and structures of the cities are constantly evolving.
To make things better for disabled individuals, assistive tech is doing a significant job in the revolution. The international worth of the industry tends to grow from $14b of every 2015 to $30.8b in 2024, as per Zion Market Research and Coherent Market Insights.
Following are high-tech mobility solutions for disabled people to move around the city without restrictions:
Wheelchair Having Ability to Climb Stairs
In this case, we can take Jose Di Felice’s story as an example. He had a major motorcycle accident that resulted in disability to move both legs and one arm. Later on, during spending normal life in a wheelchair, he had to face the difficulty to go upstairs. He started looking for solutions and found a wheelchair that could climb the stairs. The advanced wheelchair had the functionality to be controlled through a smartphone. It can handle a scope of territories and has unique elastic tracks for climbing stairs. It is being anticipated that the wheelchair will be made available to users by the end of 2019, and it is truly an incredible invention to help disabled people.
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Exo Muscle Suit That Offers Powerful Mobility Solution
As technology is advancing, new and improved mobility solutions are being introduced. In this case, wearable tech is likewise turning out to be modern. The robotic wearable gear that weighs under 5 kilograms (11 pounds) includes a layer of muscle that makes the movements smoother and offers balance to individuals experiencing mobility weaknesses. The sensors have been set up in place to identify the movements of users as per their intentions and supports accordingly.
The gear has been built to help individuals who need additional force or additional help with their daily life. The gear is suitable for individuals who can still somehow walk, however, having difficulty to stand out from a seat or cannot go upstairs.
Smart Walking Stick
To revolutionize the mobility solutions another smart gear has been introduced. This is a smart walking stick. The smart walking stick utilizes ultrasonic sensors that can spot obstacles that are above chest level and utilizes vibrations to alert the user. The stick can be connected with a smartphone to help to move around and is built with a voice assistant along with Google Maps. As per the World Health Organization, 39 million individuals around the world are blind, and another quarter of a billion have visual deficiencies.
The creators of the stick designed it, keeping the view in mind; nowadays, people are looking at flying cars; however, individuals having visual deficiencies utilizing only a plain stick. Therefore, engineers connected the stick with the Internet of Things and smart city solutions make it easy to use.
Specialty Vehicles
The vehicles have been designed to help those who intend to travel in groups, for example, schools, colleges or health care providers. Vehicles in this category vary and usually offer space for the significant number of people along with space for wheelchairs. These sorts of vehicles have been able to offer creative travel alternative produced using lightweight materials and providing a variety of accessibility features, for example, folding ramps and passenger lifts.
Apps for Disabled Travelers
A fresh entry in the category of travel to help disabled travelers are disabled traveler apps. There are several helpful features of the app and has been introduced to help train more accessible. The app works in a way to help book and make amendments to help necessities for debilitated travelers. The application is presently going through the trial period and is expected to be released by the end of 2019, though, it already has a lot of encouraging points to support, including real-time ease of use. The application is up to date, and this is the reason it stays away from the issues caused by telephone and online reservations, which means reservations are straightforward and transparent.
Another application to help disabled travelers has been introduced and is a free app. The application links visually impaired individuals to 1.2 million sighted volunteers and organizations. This is done through a video call. As soon as connected, the live call is then utilized to help visually impaired individuals to go through occupied airports and navigate train platforms harmlessly.
Websites for Disabled People
To assist disabled people, a vast category of tools and applications have been designed, and this list also includes websites that are intended to help as users are utilizing transport. There are websites accessible to help disabled travelers with their transport arrangements. In this case, websites are intended to clarify the level of access available at venues across the intended areas. With the help of this information before heading towards any location, user can arrange transport that offers easy access to the destination, along with reducing any tension regarding what to anticipate at the moment you get there.
Home Modifications to Help Mobility for Disabled and Elderly
Home improvement isn’t only the title of a hit show from the 1990s. There are numerous reasons why individuals face home improvement issues in their homes. Families are striving to decide on how they can make enhancements to their homes to help disabled and elderly. It is anticipated that about 7 million people or 18% of the working-age population in Britain are disabled. In case you’re living with somebody who needs assistance to get around, some improvements can be done to assist elderly or disabled individuals.
Innovative Home Adjustments for Disabled and Elderly
In case you intend to make adjustments at home for disabled and elderly members, you can find several innovative and straightforward ideas to consider. Initially, you should consider the entrances and exits based on the fact that these are the major obstacles that become difficult for seniors or disabled. For instance, does the doorway serve a wheelchair walker? There are alternatives you can try to make parts of the home more secure and easily reachable for individuals having mobility issues. Alongside widening entrances, setting up ramps could help ease when it comes to entering the house. You can likewise set up the railings on both the stairs and ramps to provide them with the safest environment.
With regards to stairs, at the time of altering, it will be required to observe the number of stairs in the house. The considerable aspects here are related to the width, kind of railings, and the number of levels in the house that have stairs. In case it appears as fundamental, adjustment may incorporate setting up wider stairs, a stairlift, or a lift. These are basic and innovative solutions to offer ease and secure environment for disabled and elderly individuals to move around inside the home.
Alterations in Bathroom for Disabled
When it comes to bathroom modifications for disabled, there are several innovative solutions to help both older and disabled individuals. In case there are individuals having mobility issues, the bathroom is the place in the house that needs the most necessary adjustments. There are plenty of ways you can adjust a bathroom. It might be as straightforward as widening the bathroom entrances. Though additional alterations may be essential.
You can set up grab bars. The suitable areas for grab bars are by the toilet, the bathtub, and the shower. When it comes to getting on and off the toilet, grab bars make it easier. They can likewise make it simpler to get in and out of the bathtub. On the other hand, shower areas are difficult for individuals having mobility issues, so grab bars make it safer for them. Broad home improvement transformation may be required; however, these necessary adjustments imply the elderly can stay in their homes.
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The Way You Should Consider Remodeling Mobility Solutions Inside Home
In case you are considering the ways to remodel your home to make things more secure and straightforward to get around. If this is the case, then there are a lot of alternatives. But here are a few recommendations. To start with, you have to think about what your loved one’s level of disability is. You additionally need to think about whether his or her level of disability will increase. On condition that you should plan that decrease in mobility as an aspect of the aging procedure.
Furthermore, you have to think about what areas of the home you should modify. The modification of homes makes them more secure and more reachable for your loved one. After that, you will need somebody to help you through the modification procedure. In this case, a company that has experience with regards to home modifications for disabled and elderly could turn out to be the right decision.
This article is written by Joseph Carey Beck Brendon. He is an experienced writer and engineer and has written lots of pieces for Mobility Solutions (Scot) Ltd. He has years of experience in the home medical equipment and mobility solutions and has got extensive knowledge from lift chairs to vertical platform lifts.
