Think of how change is taking place to fix wrongs and injustice. Sometimes, it can be life-changing. Think of the YouTuber MrBeast helping 1000 people see, hear and walk. That’s a big deal. Sometimes, the change can be minimal, but it can still mean a lot.
How many people do you know using a wheelchair? Unfortunately, a lot of them are at your belly level and literally, you’re looking down on them as you’re talking. Reaching for objects and doing other things could be tough for them. Maybe, they may never regain the use of their legs again. But. what if they could be empowered to stand? Prolonged sitting might hurt their circulation, so this might even help a bit with well-being, but not too much. And if somehow, they were standing, well, that’s an injection of morale and confidence into their system. And all of this could happen at the press of a button. Stand up when you want to, sit down back when you choose.
IIT Madras was said to have developed an electric standing wheelchair called “NeoStand”. Maybe, it could make them feel a bit more dignity and autonomy. Just ask a short person what they would give to make eye-level contact with a 6 footer and you’ll understand just how meaningful it is. And that’s an experience that those in wheelchairs could, now, experience. Ask someone in a wheelchair whether they’d like to reach for a book on the top shelf or order something at Starbucks without peering over the counter. Maybe, super short people might, also, be interested in this tech.
It’s said that India has between 55 million and 90 million people who have disabilities. One might have to calculate how many of those folks are disabled from a mobility standpoint, but the number might be significant. Maybe, this way, disability evolves past immobility.
Of course, there could be challenges from a scale point of view. Maybe, something this intricate might be priced more, but, maybe some lovely anonymous benefactor out there might be willing to donate more than a few of these. And this might only be helpful as long as there’s a complement in stronger public infrastructure for accessibility. That way, wheelchair users might actually get to enjoy the benefits of standing while getting to move around a bit more seamlessly.
Maybe, this kind of DeepTech that makes incremental, yet monumental changes, might vindicate India’s role on the global DeepTech stage. Maybe, there’s no AI here – the need for it might have to be figured out in this case – but this may be an interesting hardware play for India. For some reason, maybe assistive tech might not be fully synonymous with DeepTech and the image may be cold, hard and soulless, an impact like this might even redefine the lens through which DeepTech is construed.
Will the next disabled person be standing and chilling with you? What would you do to make it happen?
