Vol. 9 Because You’re Here
An example of using an electric wheelchair to expand human possibilities
A habilitation designer specializes in helping people with disabilities live full and happy lives by developing technologies and devices that fit their individual physical needs and surroundings. With wheelchairs, they cast a discerning eye on details that manufacturers typically cannot address and then use their experience and expertise to maximize the functionality afforded to wheelchair users.
Yamaha Motor has long offered its JW Series of electric wheelchairs, but in looking to bestow the wheelchair with functionality expressly for play, habilitation designer Utako Nakamura collaborated with Yazaki Kako Co., Ltd.—which manufactures and sells welfare devices—to develop the “Fun Guard.” Once attached to a JW wheelchair, it is as if it silently calls out to children with disabilities: “C’mon, let’s have some fun!”
“Playing itself is an essential part of a child’s development. They need to play in order to grow,” says Nakamura. For children in wheelchairs, which are usually meant to avoid people and objects, playing soccer in one by moving toward the ball is a very proactive change. “Checking your surroundings, planning your next move, and the chance to compete against others to win is a rarity for them.”
It is another day when the cheers and laughter of these children echo through the gymnasium as they chase down the ball.
