Tag Archives: Inclusive Designs

These gloves help visually-impaired sports fans enjoy events even more

Posted on by

Much of what we do presume almost complete access to our physical and mental faculties. Most of the products that we make and buy are designed for the majority, which mostly means physically-able people in good condition. It is far too easy to take for granted how there’s a growing number of people in our society with physical handicaps or disabilities that become disenfranchised because of these assumptions. Given our reliance on devices with screens as well as genetic defects, many people are developing visual impairments that leave them out of enjoying many things in life. That’s especially true for sports, where one really has to see to be able to enjoy the action. Fortunately, this pair of gloves sports fans with visual impairments a chance to feel part of the game once more, utilizing the wearer’s heightened sense of touch.

Designer: Jithin Raj Mambully Rajan

The human mind and body are truly remarkable in how they compensate for lost senses or limbs, and that can be seen most especially among visually-impaired people, particularly the blind. They may not have Daredevil-like super hearing, but their fingers almost become their second eyes. Those well-versed in Braille can sometimes even read faster than those who have perfect eyesight. Unfortunately, that ability is wasted in sports events where visually-impaired people have to rely on commentators or friends for descriptions of what’s happening, something that’s not trivial to do, especially with fast-paced matches.

SENS is a wearable concept that takes advantage of the key strengths of blind or visually-impaired people when it comes to mapping the sense of touch to something totally unrelated. In a nutshell, the gloves contain three vibration motors, each that make vibration patterns on the wearer’s palms, one of the most sensitive parts of the human hand. There is also a box with buttons on the back of the hand with Braille dots used for controlling the gloves.

The idea is for the gloves’ motors to generate a unique vibration pattern that could be mapped to a specific action during a sports event, which was tennis, for the purposes of testing SENS. A fault would have a different pattern from a net hit, and a score on one side would be different from the opponent’s. Memorizing which patterns correspond to which moments does have a learning curve, but it is one that visually-impaired people might already be familiar with, allowing them to easily acclimate to other sports.

This inclusive invention does require other systems to be in place, like a sort of broadcasting system that wearers can connect to in order to receive notifications of those events. It might be easy for games like tennis, where ball-tracking technologies are already in use, but other sports events will require some more work. It’s still a better, more efficient, and more fulfilling alternative compared to hearing about each and every moment from someone else’s point of view.

The post These gloves help visually-impaired sports fans enjoy events even more first appeared on Yanko Design.

This shoe combines a shoehorn with a swivel mechanism to make putting on shoes easier for everyone

Posted on by

Prima is an inclusive shoe design that combines a swivel mechanism with a shoehorn to allow users of varying cognitive and motor levels to put on and wear their shoes with ease.

Sometimes the most innovative solutions come from the simplest of designs. Most of us wear shoes every single day. They’re the last thing we put on as we’re leaving the house and we bring them everywhere we go. While many of us put on and wear shoes without even thinking about it, not everyone shares the same experience.

Designer: Jean-Michel Rochette

While it might seem that shoes are one size fits all, for those with degenerative joint disease or arthritis, putting on shoes first thing in the morning comes with a share of difficulties. To help solve this issue, designer Jean-Michel Rochette developed Prima, a type of shoe designed for older folks and those living with joint pain to put on and wear with ease.

1

Putting on your own shoes and tying them takes a lot of cognitive and physical effort. For people living with cognitive disorders and atypical motor tendencies, putting on shoes marks the first uphill battle of the day. Rochette conducted periods of research and prototyping to find Prima’s final form.

Prima is a comfortable, no-lace, slip-on shoe that integrates a swivel mechanism into an embedded shoehorn to allow users to easily put on and wear their shoes. The shoe features elastic bands that connect the front of the shoe with the rear, allowing users to use their free foot to tilt one Prima shoe upwards and slip their other foot into its inside.

Noticing today’s footwear industry’s trend towards mass consumption, Rochette aimed to create a shoe that fits a market current footwear brands don’t serve. Prima combines a swivel mechanism with the build of a shoehorn to turn every shoe into a slip-on.

Describing Prima in his own words, Rochette notes, “The Prima shoe allows its user to quickly put on and take off their feet without having to bend or perform any manipulations thanks to the swivel mechanism located at the back of the shoe. It eliminates physical pain and discomfort caused by different situations such as waiting and needing assistance.”

 

The post This shoe combines a shoehorn with a swivel mechanism to make putting on shoes easier for everyone first appeared on Yanko Design.

This leg brace promises improved health for patients with its mindful, sole-friendly design that reduces pain

Posted on by




Whether you’ve had an injury or unfortunately suffer from a chronic medical problem – choosing the right braces for your legs, ankle or feet is vital. Wearing one that is not ergonomically built for your comfort and convenience can hamper day-to-day activities, and also create other problems like excessive heat in the feet which leads to bad smell and itching. The latter can result in allergies if not taken care of in time. Keeping the ergonomic needs of its people in mind, design studio Valkiria has mindfully thought of leg braces (designed for Mercur) that users would actually love to use.

The design studio has put a lot of time and research into creating the blueprint, and final product of the Mercur Immobilizer Boot M1 leg braces with consultation from existing users of other such braces and health experts who conveyed the problem and the intended solution they would want. In the end, Valkiria managed to come up with a product that is safe, stays consistent in its shape with use, and intended for long-term usage if the rehabilitation period is extended. The form and function of the Boot M1 facilitate the user with both feet fit as it is bilateral – in both longer and shorter versions depending on the need. Also, there are the anatomical plastic nails that reduce the pressure on the calf, and for easy opening and closing, there is the Velcro fastening system. To address the smelling issue, the design studio chooses a breathable material to annihilate the growth of bacteria and keep the heat down.

One thing that’s utterly frustrating with leg braces is the fatigue it causes to the knee and the hip muscles. Boot M1 has the luxury of anatomical insole and sole that makes sure these issues are no longer there. Most of all it doesn’t in any way hamper mobility or is uncomfortable for extended use.

Designer: Valkiria for Mercur

Click Here to Buy Now!













Everyday Products get a special needs upgrade in these inclusive product designs!

Posted on by

Designers, all over the world, are beginning to realize how important it is to create products that promote inclusivity and take into consideration the requirements of users with special needs. Whether it’s for people in wheelchairs or those who are hard of hearing or the visually impaired, new and improved designs have been coming up that help them deal with their day to day tasks with ease. Hence, we’ve curated a collection of inclusive designs that truly are innovative and groundbreaking!

LEGO blocks now also teach children Braille. The bumped upper texture of the LEGO Braille Bricks provides quite literally the most obvious canvas for the braille language, allowing kids to, block by block, build sentences, but at the same time also read along as they go, both by running their fingers across the specially bumped blocks as well as using the printed text below each set of bumps.

The Row-1 is an inclusive-design wheelchair that lets disabled and elderly patrons at an airport go straight from the check-in desk to inside the airline, and de-board the flight at their destination. The Row-1 wheelchair comes with a nesting design and inward-folding rear wheels that help it integrate itself comfortably into a seat in the first row, giving the patron extra leg-room while keeping them closer to the washroom too.

volkswagen_roller_9

The Volkswagen Roller, in fact, is a new-age roller skate. The design comes with two main hubless wheels and two retractable rear wheels. The rear wheels remain outside before and after the ride. However, while in transit, they retract inwards, so that you ride using only the main hubless wheels on each foot. Maybe one-day disabled people can have bionic feet that look like that and all you need to do is snap a pair of hubless wheels on and you’re set to go!

textura_phone_1

The Textura brings a classy, sleek design to a phone for the visually impaired. Relying on a screen replacement surface that is made for braille, the phone comes with a slim form factor with a large black dynamic planar surface that forms bumps to create pieces of data, much like any regular phone would. It even comes with a headphone jack so that the blind can have personalized audio feedback.

vrailler_braille_printing_kit_layout

Vrailler’s Braille Printer is easy-to-use, small, and more importantly, affordable. It uses two perforated slates, a third upper slate, and a set of pins that you drop into the base-slate to create indentations. When you press the upper slate and middle slate onto the base slate, the indentations translate onto the paper/film, giving you printed braille. These can be used to create name-tags, labels, or even accessible business cards.

Slip Wash is a concept design for a laundry machine that aims to make independent living possible for wheelchair users. The usual washing machine takes up more space with the front opening door and makes it harder for the user to navigate around with a wheelchair. Even the height isn’t suitable for them. In Slip Wash, the door slides up and the washing container is in the front, which makes the space less restrictive and reduces the maneuvering and bending the user would usually have to do.

finger_reader_1

Adapted to fit on the hand and index finger, the wearable FingerReader makes it possible for users to point at any sign, label, banknote, or page in a book and instantly understand what’s in front of them. Equipped with a specialized scanner, words and sentences are detected and processed using computer vision algorithms so they can be spoken in real-time.

universal_shower_head_layout

universal_shower_head_01

This rather ingenious shower device is designed to make showering accessible to people of all heights and disabilities. It consists of a sliding bar whose default position is at the lowest point, making it within reaching distance for all. Its height can be adjusted with ease, along with its orientation and water temperature.

The Inmergo Headphones by Rocco Giovannoni are bone-conducting headphones that transmit soundwaves via vibrations in the skull, rather than in the eardrums, except this headphone helmet has been equipped with five speakers sheathed in a silicon membrane, which creates a heightened audio experience for people who are hard of hearing.

This Exoskeleton by Clinatec enables quadriplegic patients to move all four of their limbs, simply by controlling it via their minds! It is connected to the patient’s brain through implants. This could really help them regain motor control and recover mobility!