Sometimes, design really does change lives. Dr. Amit Goffer previously designed ReWalk, a device that gives paraplegics paralyzed from the waste down mobility again. But 90 percent of handicapped people are unable to use it. In order to give quadriplegics a similar new lease on life, the Israeli designer made a few modifications with UPnRIDE.

“I have the benefit of being confined to a wheelchair so I tried to create the ultimate solution for the handicapped as I see it,” Dr. Goffer, who is working with RehaMed Technologies CEO Oren Tamari on the new product, told NoCamels.

“The person on the outside will see it as a Segway and not a wheelchair. For the younger generation of handicapped individuals, this is especially important.”

Related: Tel Aviv municipal workers busted for fake handicap sign

The upright wheelchair incorporates new balancing technology that allows even quadriplegics, who have no control over their bodies, to traverse a wide range of terrain with confidence. Imagine that – someone confined to a wheelchair now has the same kind of mobility that able-bodied people enjoy.

UPnRide allows users to maintain their center of gravity – whether they are sitting or standing, and a stabilized platform ensures vertical balance. If the user does fall at all, safety arms will immediately grab them and place them back in the mobile device very similar to a Segway.

While the design is a couple of years from market, Dr. Goffer expects a completed prototype of the pending patent within the next few months. And if it’s anything like the ReWalk, which just received U.S. FDA approval for home use, it’s bound to be a huge hit.

:: ReWalk

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The Bogota-based firm tackled a challenge that many others have attempted before them: how to save people from invisible land mines, which maim and kill soldiers, farmers and innocent civilians in former and current conflict zones all across the globe?

Egyptian scientists are working on using bacteria and plants to root out land mines, an Afghan designer modeled his wind-powered bamboo mine sweeper after a childhood toy, but Lemur Studio has taken an entirely different approach.

Related post: Bedouins maimed by land mines honored in haunting photographs

SaveOneLife boot soles are equipped with tiny microprocessors that pick up electromagnetic signals – like a mini metal detector. Embedded radio transmitters then send a message to a wristband interface when the wearer steps within a 6.5 foot radius of a land mine, alerting them to the impending danger.

And here’s the best part – the wristband interface will pinpoint the land mine’s exact location, mitigating the need for all guess work.

“The device was created with the goal of saving a life, hence the name, first by the families of the victims and second for the cost effects of military forces by the loss of his men in combat,” Ivan Perez, Lemur’s creative director, told Fast Company.

They add however that theirs is not the final solution to the land mine problem, which really is quite serious and deserving of greater global attention, but rather a “stopgap technology to reduce the danger from antipersonnel mines,” Gizmag reports.

Still in the concept phase, mostly since the group lacks funding, the design has nonetheless picked up a slew of rewards, including the Red Dot Design Singapore award. It is also up for the World Design Impact Prize and winners will be announced later this year.

Meanwhile, Lemur Studio (site down in Oct, 2022) has pitched their idea to the military (Colombian, we assume) for funding and support. We fully expect to see this product on the market in the coming years.

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Soares recently presented a glass bowl or horn-like device with a mouth piece and two chambers at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.

Men and women exhale into the glass horn and bees, which have been trained to detect odors associated with certain diseases such as various kinds of cancer and tuberculosis, quickly dart from the primary chamber into the secondary chamber if the odor appears.

These bees have been trained with Pavlov’s reflex within a mere 10 seconds. Presented with the biomarkers associated with lung, skin or pancreatic cancer, along with a serving of sugar, they “remember” this odor for as long as they live – up to six weeks or so.

During the cancer test, they are rewarded with sugar every time the odor shows up, ensuring a reliable, early disease diagnosis.

“These insects are very accurate in early medical diagnosis through detection on a person’s breath,” according to the designer. “Bees are a sustainable and valuable resource. After performing the diagnose [sic] in the clinic they are released, returning to their beehive.”

With an extraordinary sense of smell in the parts per million range, bees have been used in other applications as well – including those formerly reserved for hound dogs.

“Bees have also been trained to detect explosives,” according to Dezeen, “and a company called Insectinel is training “sniffer bees” to work in counter-terrorist operations.”

This is a fascinating and groundbreaking design, which could have enormous consequences for the medical community, particularly in areas where health care services are scarce.

“There’s plenty of interest in the project especially from charities and further applications as a cost effective early detection of illness, specifically in developing countries,” Soares said.

:: Dezeen

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