Moving unaided on a wheelchair becomes a difficult task for the physically challenged, which becomes more risky during night. Adding mobility to the life of the disabled, a group of South Korean designers, including Min-Goo Kim, Yun-Jin Chang and Su-Eun Park, have come up with an innovative wheelchair that produces and accumulates electricity, as the disabled move it during the day, to light their way at night. This not only makes mobility safe for the users, but also produces green energy and supports a green lifestyle. Featuring LEDs that emit light during night, the wheelchair makes use of magnets that convert the wheel rotation into electricity in the electric plant, while the coil moves power through wires to the switch and LEDs. Moreover, users may check the gathered electricity on the LCD display located in the center of each wheel.
[Thanks Mingoo]
This looks very interesting. I like the design of the wheel and I like the fact that it glows. However, I am concerned about three things. Firstly, weight. My guess is that these wheels are heavy. Weight is an important factor to wheelchair users and most prefer to keep their chair as light as possible. Secondly, I am concerned about cost. I bet these are extremely expensive and I worry about the cost/benefit factor. Third, is there an on/off switch?
There are also newly designed safety products for wheelchair users such as these wheelchair reflectors and these wheelchair lights. While they are not as ”flashy” (pun intended) they are lightweight and relatively inexpensive.
