
Handsfree Off-Road Wheelchair - chris1993
https://omeotechnology.com/
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oblib
This is certainly cool tech, but I don't think they'll sell many of these.

I worked on advanced mobility products for over 15 years and with hundreds of
quadriplegic folks in wheelchairs and listened to all of them.

Over those years I saw a lot of very cool products designed for them that they
didn't want, need, or have any interest in using.

A wheelchair that goes off road is one of them. Most of those folks have no
interest at all in that, and most will tell you, if you get to know them well
enough, they're afraid of it.

There's good reasons for that too. We're talking about people that cannot pick
up a sandwich or open a can of soda. They cannot lean back and forth much, or
turn side to side. They don't have the muscle or muscle control to handle the
shocks of bumps of going off pavement.

Now I have met some paraplegics that would love those. Not many, but a few.
They were all "Type A" personalities who loved risky behaviors even after
braking their backs.

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dalbasal
I think you might be overemphasizing "off road." This doesn't look like the
wheelchair version of a quadbike. It looks more like a wheelchair that can
handle backyards, beaches and broken footpaths.

Besides that, handsfree control sounds nice. You don't need hands to operate
legs and the wheelchairs do legs' job.

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dsfyu404ed
>It looks more like a wheelchair that can handle backyards, beaches and broken
footpaths.

It won't handle them very well until at least a month or so from now when "mud
season" is over in the parts of the world that have a winter in which the
ground freezes. That rim and tire package is worlds better than a normal
wheelchair but still not very good for not sinking in the soft stuff.

~~~
bluedino
Even worse are 'mobility schooters'. Tiny wheels, many of them are front wheel
drive, they get stuck very easily when tehy are not on a hard surface.

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zerto
My wife, who is a wheelchair user, and I tried it a couple years back (when it
was still named Ogo). She said that it was really nice to be hand free and
while the prototype was still rough, she really liked it.

Plus the inventor is super nice and does this for all the right reasons.

We wrote a small review about it back then :
[https://www.iwheeltravel.com/en/ogo-wheelchair-new-
zealand/](https://www.iwheeltravel.com/en/ogo-wheelchair-new-zealand/)

~~~
blinkybill
Cool. It looked like a good idea and I'm glad it's usable in practice. We need
more innovations like this in society.

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bluGill
Instead of a wheelchair try a trackchair
[http://actiontrackchair.com/](http://actiontrackchair.com/). When you are off
road wheels are not the best idea.

I'm friends with the inventors son who was paralyzed some years back.
Designing something so that he could do all the outdoor activities he enjoyed
before the accident was their goal. I have been watching their iterations for
years, and seen pictures of him doing more and more things that I'd consider
normal. (our lives moved in different directions so we haven't got together)

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escapologybb
On a completely separate note, why on earth have you used able-bodied people
advertise this product?! I mean really, were there no quadriplegic available?
My email address is in my bio!

/Rant

(PS. It looks really cool and I would really like one!)

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benj111
Note they specifically disclaim this as a medical device at the end.

This isn't a 'wheelchair' as I would understand it.

And the hands free element seems to rely on whole body movement, so wouldn't
be of use for people without the use of their muscles.

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EamonnMR
Probably because medical device classification is expensive and might not
allow for "fun" wheelchairs like this one. The upshot is that health insurance
probably won't pay for this.

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benj111
Yes I'm in 2 minds on how to interpret the lack of official certification, For
the reasons you describe. Additionally I would guess these would face
different laws to wheelchairs, I don't think they'd be allowed on pavements in
my country for example, they would basically be classed as scooters /
hoverboards.

