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Ottawa Based Company Developing “SmartChair”; The Smartphone Controlled Wheelchair

Ottawa Based Company Developing “SmartChair”; The Smartphone Controlled Wheelchair

Mary Cris Balancio

It seems like one person would always find something useful that they can make an app off. Such is the case of the "SmartChair", which is currently under development in Ottawa. The smartchair is a power wheelchair than can be moved by using smartphones or a remote control with voice.

Ottawa computer engineer McMaster graduate, Ke Wang, is the founder of Ottawa-based tech company called Eightfold technologies. He has been a power wheelchair user for about ten years now. According to Wang, he was frustrated on how he always needed help to move his chair away and back again when he gets off it to sit on the couch or go to the bathroom.

One day as he was looking at his chair that was a few feet away from him and thinking he can't do anything about it, he decided he was going to do find a solution. Wang said on his interview that he thought he can do something to the wheelchair or modify it a bit to solve the problem that a lot of people have. He had time and he had the resources; the SmartChair project was born.

Wang's prototype for his SmartChair enables a user to control the chair with their very own smartphone via Bluetooth, have their chair follow lines on the floor just by pushing a button or by giving a voice command if they don't have enough mobility to control the wheelchair by hand. With this technology being outfitted in someone's house, users will be able to move a bit more without needing any assistance.

They can go to their kitchen, for example, by just pushing a button or uttering phrases like "I want to go to the kitchen" or "I want to watch TV" and it will immediately take the user to the where the TV is. Wang added that every little bit of independence is invaluable to a disabled person like him so the SmartChair is will make a difference not just for him but for people who have the same disability.

Wang's company is already testing the SmartChair's prototypes and they hope that they will have these in production within a year.

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