AI6YR BenHmm, I am curious how many wheelchair users are asking for AI- and drone-enabled wheelchairs.
IEEE: AI Aims for Autonomous Wheelchair Navigation
New chairs track obstacles while drones map the room
AprazethAs someone whom had to support and push their own wheelchair bound mom around (my early/pre-puberty, so pre 2000) I think I am somewhat familiar with how things work and don't.
This? This is shit. What is needed is accessibility applied to places so fancy, expensive, and often fragile, proprietary tech isn't needed.
It is creating yet another dependence on external factors.
Are there cases where this tech might help? Maybe. But let us focus on making places accessible firstly.
Ask the community what they want and need rather then what some souped up washed out coked up techbro has sharted out.
Money and attention that could really help people is now being funneled into some hustle project that will benefit few to none other then th
But nooooo let's not attempt to fix society in a meaningful way when we can extract more money and inflict indignity upon others.
... Yes, this pissed me off.
I have had to help my mom in situations that were beyond appalling. Having to run inside to the front desk to get the keys for the wheelchair elevator while she had to wait in the soaking rain. Doors that can't be operated from a wheelchair, curbs, thresholds, single accessibility toilet at the other end of the building...
But yes, let's create a fancy new gizmo that drives on it's own and creates a dependence on the manufacturer and whether or not they support it in the future. Because if it breaks, what then?
If they want to do something; make electric wheel chairs affordable, safer, repairable, and maintainable. But there is not enough money to be made there, so... Guess which option they'll pick.
OK, I will stop but ooh I am seething right now.
@Aprazeth I appreciate your experience and thoughts here, I wish more of the technology developers would consider these things!
KristinJI love this idea for the batteries!
Standardized equipment with mandated interoperability, with open design specs.
NilaJones@Aprazeth @KristinJordheim @ai6yr @me_valentijn @ml
IMO, the biggest problem in the wheelchair industry is that the customer is considered to be the insurance company, not the end user. And in the US, that usually means Medicaid
This is why we get absurdly expensive wheelchairs that don't do what the user needs
And ridiculous rules, like wheelchairs must be designed for indoor use only, or they cannot be covered by insurance
One night in an unheated garage kills the circuit board of an electric wheelchair. Being away from room temperature that long, it gets condensation. And the board is not waterproof, because indoor only
@ai6yr @NilaJones @KristinJordheim @me_valentijn @ml
Yeah, that is an apt response.
And that isn't just for the USA.
It is not uncommon for a defect to take weeks to months to get repaired, basically stranding the owner in their own home if they have no other means of transport. Better not try to fix it yourself or have another mechanic check it because woops, no more warranty for you.
Luna Dragofelis ΘΔ🏳️⚧️🐱@NilaJones @Aprazeth @KristinJordheim @ai6yr @me_valentijn @ml for indoor use only? do they not expect wheelchair users to ever leave the house?
@LunaDragofelis @ml @ai6yr @me_valentijn @KristinJordheim @NilaJones
Probably, and this is pure speculation on my side, due to regulations for any vehicle operated on the road being vastly different. As in, it would need brakelights, maybe a license plate or something? In what category vehicle would it fall? Etc. Etc.
@Aprazeth @LunaDragofelis @ml @ai6yr @me_valentijn @KristinJordheim
No, wheelchairs are operated on the sidewalk. They don't require any type of light, etc, that isn't required of a person walking in the daytime