INVENTION that improve the quality of elderly's movement

IBOT

The iBOT is a powered wheelchair developed by Dean Kamen in a partnership between DEKA and Johnson and Johnson's Independence Technology division.

As of 2009, it is no longer available for sale from Independence Technology, but support for existing units was available until the end of 2013. Production was discontinued for cost reasons; only a few hundred were sold per year at a retail price of about $25,000, and Medicare paid only $5000.

The iBOT has a number of features distinguishing it from most powered wheelchairs:

• By rotating its two sets of powered wheels about each other, the iBOT can "walk" up and down stairs, much like a cog railway or a rack and pinion with the two wheels as the "teeth" of the gear.

• The iBOT is capable of tethered remote control operation, useful for loading the wheelchair up ramps into vehicles, or "parking" out of the way when not occupied.

• Custom software receives data via various sensors and gyroscopes, allowing the iBOT to maintain balance during certain maneuvers.

• It allows the user to rise from a sitting level to approximately 6' tall. The user may also travel in this "standing" configuration.

• It can climb and descend curbs ranging from 0.1 to 5.0 inches, according to the manufacturer's specifications. The limits are determined by the rider's technique and risk tolerance.

• It is capable of traveling through many types of terrain, including sand, gravel, and water up to 3" deep.

   ’Ibot’, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, 5  FEBUARY 2016, Last revised 21 December 2015, < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT>.

Ibot is just amazing and I wish we could see it appears on the market soon. I found something similar around us but I am not so supportive towards this tool as it actually brought inconvenience.

electric wheel chair

Despite of  not being helpful in climbing staircases, it is too bulky. The following pictures show some of my captures about an elderly tried very hard to get down form this motor thus shift to the seat provided in a hawker centre.

Know a little bit more about BUGIS

In order to find out a way to allow elderly to travel easily within the community, Bugis, I have to know more about Bugis. Let's start with knowing some of it's history.

Bugis, in Singapore, was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of trans women, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period.


Back to Pre- 1950, the Bugis, an ethnic group from South Sulawesi sailed up to this place and carried out trading with Singaporean merchants. 
The Cantonese, however, referred to the street as Hak Gaai or Hei Jie in Mandarin (黑街; black street) as there were many clubs catering to the Japanese invaders in the 1940s. During the first half of the 20th century.

After World War II, hawkers gathered there to sell food and goods. There was initially also a small number of outdoor bars set up beside rat-infested drains.

When transvestites began to rendezvous in the area in the 1950s, they attracted increasing numbers of Western tourists who came for the booze, the food, the pasar malam shopping and the "girls". Business boomed and Bugis Street became an extremely lively and bustling area.

In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore's history.

Bugis, Downtown Core,Wikipedia, The Free Enclopedia, Accessed on 5 Febuary 2016, Last revised on 15 January 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugis,_Downtown_Core

Well, as a foreigner, I never know that I m studying in a place where full with colourful history. Good to know that. It is clearly shown that Bugis is a place where has been developed since more than half decade ago. The facilities and buildings around are built one followed by another. The area is less organised and seems to be crowded because of its position as downtown core. However, we cannot forget that there are a numbers of elderly are staying there since they were young.

Reconstruct the city?

Invent an amazing tool?

What should we do to make it easier for elderly to travel within this community?

I am overwhelmed with these questions.