How New Tech Is Making It Easier for People With Disabilities to Move

People who use wheelchairs might soon have new ways to navigate their world. 

A new invention allows patients with limited mobility to use their facial muscles to control their wheelchairs. It's one of a growing number of wheelchair technologies helping people with disabilities. 

"Cutting-edge technological advancements can assist in removing obstacles to social contact and communication, enabling people with disabilities to interact with others and take part more completely in society," Marc Aflalo, a video producer who comments on technology and accessibility, told Lifewire via email. 

Hands-Free Wheelchair Technology

The hands-free wheelchair technology invented at the University of Central Florida allows people with limited mobility to use their facial muscles to control their wheelchairs. The control method uses electromyography sensors placed on a patient's temporalis muscles to move a wheelchair or vehicle. When a user clenches their jaw, the wheelchair will respond by moving in the designated direction.

"The technology has the potential to unlock mobility independence for certain patients," said one of the inventors, Albert Manero, in the news release. "We are hopeful to complete further clinical trials on the equipment before working with a wheelchair provider to integrate with their available devices."

Researchers enrolled four ALS (Lou Gehrig disease) patients in a study to test the device. All the patients had impairment of hand function that limited the use of the standard wheelchair joystick control. The patients were assessed based on their ability to navigate a wheelchair skills course and their impressions of the new technology compared to their current regimes.

The next phase of the work is to improve patient training to learn how to operate the hands-free technology. The team's game design students and faculty have been developing a training game that enables practicing driving commands in a low-stress virtual environment. The training game is operated through the electromyography sensor control in combination with eye-tracking software for hands-free calibration. 

Tech to Help People With Disabilities

The new wheelchair design is one of many technologies that could help people with disabilities. Another potentially helpful device is Gita mini robots designed to follow humans around to learn how to navigate a new environment. 

"The mission of Gita robots to provide walking alternatives to driving or being driven is a positive value for many people, and people with disabilities might find this beneficial," Greg Lynn, CEO of Piaggio Fast Forward, the creators of the Gita mini robots, said in an email. "It is also worth recognizing that many factors, from physical to optical, for example, make driving difficult, and having a pedestrian alternative is positive here as well."

University of Illinois scientists recently announced they'd assembled a new type of robotic wheelchair. The PURE wheelchair operates similarly to a Segway, where the rider leans in the desired direction. 

The wheelchair rolls on a ball or spherical wheel. It is based on the concept of a dynamically stable ball-based robot (ballbot) and uses an omni-wheel system to drive and control the spherical wheel. 

"Manual wheelchair users, due to this traditional design, have a lot of issues," said Elizabeth T. Hsiao-Wecksler, an engineering professor, said in the PURE news release. "It's difficult to fit in tight spaces, [the chair] requires both hands to propel, and 70% of manual wheelchair users will experience upper extremity overuse injuries that may lead to inability to use a manual wheelchair. Powered wheelchairs address some of these issues, but they're generally really heavy, very large, expensive, and can be difficult to maneuver; most people who are able to would use a manual wheelchair."

Engineers are also developing low-cost, robotic "clothing" to help children with cerebral palsy gain control over their arm movements. Most robots are rigid and uncomfortable on the human body. Still, a project at the University of California Riverside is building devices from soft textiles, which will also facilitate more natural limb functioning. 

And in the future, users might be able to control wheelchairs using their minds. A study published last year found that severely paralyzed users can drive wheelchairs using their thoughts with the help of an (AI)-enabled brain-machine interface.

"The results achieved in this work allow us to highlight how shared-control—and, in general, human-robot interaction approaches and collaborative robotics—may support the user to achieve safety, efficiency, and usability of the brain-controlled wheelchairs," the authors wrote.