Click on the image for more shots of the Future Chair wheelchairs
While many engineers are looking towards carbon fiber as a way to lighten up our automobiles, with very good reason, others are using the lightweight composite material in human-powered vehicles, like bicycles and... wheelchairs. Not only is carbon fiber lightweight, it's also quite strong and the weave of the material makes a big difference as to how the material responds to vibration and harshness, so the wheelchair can be "tuned" for a specific user. All this technology leads to a wheelchair from Future Chairs which weights just 13.9 pounds, though it's pretty expensive at ???2,595 and is only available in the UK.
While on the subject of wheelchairs, take a look at the prototype Dreamfit motorcycle which was designed specifically for paraplegics. So, it's not made from carbon fiber, but it does feature stabilizing wheels and thumb shifters along with a system designed to keep riders with poor lower-body strength mounted on the seat properly. The company also makes ski boats and hovercrafts for paraplegics. Seriously, how cool is that?
While many engineers are looking towards carbon fiber as a way to lighten up our automobiles, with very good reason, others are using the lightweight composite material in human-powered vehicles, like bicycles and... wheelchairs. Not only is carbon fiber lightweight, it's also quite strong and the weave of the material makes a big difference as to how the material responds to vibration and harshness, so the wheelchair can be "tuned" for a specific user. All this technology leads to a wheelchair from Future Chairs which weights just 13.9 pounds, though it's pretty expensive at ???2,595 and is only available in the UK.
While on the subject of wheelchairs, take a look at the prototype Dreamfit motorcycle which was designed specifically for paraplegics. So, it's not made from carbon fiber, but it does feature stabilizing wheels and thumb shifters along with a system designed to keep riders with poor lower-body strength mounted on the seat properly. The company also makes ski boats and hovercrafts for paraplegics. Seriously, how cool is that?
[Source: Gizmag]
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