Activity monitor for wheelchair users

Aileen
Aileen Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
edited July 2024 in Housing and independent living
Hey Folks, 

I'm just starting with a project to help wheelchair users tracking their activity better. It seems like most current applications were developed to give the medical people insights but nothing really helpful for the user himself. 

My goal is to come up with something nice and user centered based on the real user needs.
Therefore I was wondering what you might find helpful to track over the day/week/month? I was thinking something like number of pushes, distance travelled, etc. ?

I think we could come up with something really cool and unique especially for wheelchair needs instead of having to adapt technology for non-disabled people to our needs.

Let me know what you think!

Comments

  • milo
    milo Online Community Member Posts: 124 Empowering
    Sounds like a good idea. At the moment I use a cycling app on my phone to track distance and speed etc. I'd love to see something specifically for wheelchair users 
  • Aileen
    Aileen Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Cool, which one do you use and what are the most important features there for you, what is missing ?
  • milo
    milo Online Community Member Posts: 124 Empowering
    Hi.  I use one called Road Bike at the moment but have tried a few. Problem with them is they don't give me the number of pushes,  also the calorie usage is based on riding a bike with gears which is massively more efficient than pushing a wheelchair especially on hills etc
  • Angelicstorm
    Angelicstorm Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener
    Excellent idea...something which would monitor every wheel movement might be useful
  • milo
    milo Online Community Member Posts: 124 Empowering
    Are you thinking in terms of a stand alone device to attach to the chair or, are you thinking of a device that would connect to a smartphone app similar to some of the fitness trackers currently available for runners etc? 
  • Aileen
    Aileen Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Depends what kind of data might be required. I just discovered that my university might have sensor I would be able to use for some prototyping :) .

    Would be happy to know about what you think might be important. 
    I just set up a really quick questionnaire to gather some opinions. Would be great if you could have a look at it and share it with other people who might be interested in. The more opinions the better :). 

  • milo
    milo Online Community Member Posts: 124 Empowering
    Will do,  am a member of a wheelchair rugby team so will mention it to the others
  • Aileen
    Aileen Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Forgot to mention that you can win an £10 amazon voucher.

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