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Looks very cool. One thing I noticed about the video introduction is the speaker is explicitly talking to the viewer as if he or she is not the target audience
by DavidSJ 11y ago
Looks very cool.
One thing I noticed about the video introduction is the speaker is explicitly talking to the viewer as if he or she is not the target audience, e.g. "while you and I may take this for granted ..." and "the disabled are exactly the same as you and me ..."
- chronial 11y agoThat is probably to make clear that this is not a Wall-E device or a bicycle replacement. Even with that clear language, multiple people here did not get that.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoThere's something sad about that so many cases of technological innovation in physical space seem to remind people of Wall-E.
- smellf 11y agoTo be fair, that's exactly what it looks like until you watch the video. And some people may not be able to stream video at their work. The page talks about "personal transportation" and doesn't mention the disabled once.
- notahacker 11y agoThe video is presumably made to be shared amongst a wider audience than the target market. And I guess that for a disabled person it would be a huge psychological win to have able-bodied people looking with envy rather than sympathy at their means of locomotion.
- jusben1369 11y agoI wonder if it's just for disabled people. It's essentially a sitting Segway. There are certain jobs for which the added height of a Segway is key; crowd control being one. However, one of the biggest issues with Segway are accidents. This would all but eliminate them based on the user being seated. If you lived in a warm climate and work was 10km or less away with bike lanes........this would appear to be an interesting choice? Or worked on a large warehouse floor where you constantly moved between areas etc.
- Grustaf 11y agoIf biking is too hard, why not ride an electric scooter or something? This chair seems great, but it's probably far from optimal for commuting.
- kevinmchugh 11y agoReminds me of this great TED talk, where one person is jealous that someone with prosthetic legs can change their height: https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetics/transcript?language=en#t-405000 https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_prosthetic_aesthetic...
- yunghu 11y ago> it would be a huge psychological win to have able-bodied people looking with envy rather than sympathy at their means of locomotion What kind of horrible person get a kick out of knowing other people are envious?
- piker 11y agoI thought the same thing. I wanted to send a link to my father, who suffers from post-polio syndrome and could benefit from an innovation like this, but I'm concerned the tone would offend him.
- derefr 11y agoThe disabled person ultimately gets to decide how to spend their own insurance money on assistive devices, but doesn't always have the full perspective on the impact on their friends, or family, or possibilities of workplace or housing, that can change with one device or another. Plus, they're frequently old or have a cognitive/learning disability or some other thing that makes them staid in their ways, and makes their caretakers wary of change. I think this video is aimed at reaching out to the people around the disabled person who might currently be adapting their lifestyle to suit the requirements of the disabled's present assistive device, and could be convinced to advocate to the disabled person based on the increased autonomy/decreased dependence it would lend them.
- odbol 11y agoAlso, when he says "a disabled" is quite cringeworthy. You're supposed to say "person with disabilities" because it's not a "label", just a description of a normal person who happens to have different transportation needs.
- Grustaf 11y agoCome on. This guy spent thousands of hours designing a tool to make life better for people who can't walk, and all you care about is his choice of words?