Wheelchair that turns into motorbike: How these IIT Madras alumni are enabling thousands with disabilities

Indianexpress.com got successful interaction with 1 of the founders of NeoMotion, Siddarth Daga, to recognize the communicative of this unsocial vehicle. Daga traced the origins of NeoMotion, a startup that has blossomed and is present connected a ngo to alteration lives of radical with disabilities.

The life-changing moment

NeoMotion’s travel stems from IIT Madras, wherever Daga and different founders studied. During their last year, prof Dr Sujatha Srinivasan, who leads the TTK Center for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development, introduced them to the tract of assistive technology. This experience, particularly the life-changing facet of assistive devices, piqued their curiosity.

“We were tasked with designing a swimming excavation hoist for wheelchair users,” Daga recalled. “The thought was to assistance them safely and with dignity get into the excavation and usage swimming arsenic a signifier of exercise, which is hard for galore owed to the logistics of getting into the pool. This task opened our eyes to the existent challenges faced by radical with disabilities,” helium said.

As portion of the project, the squad interacted with galore wheelchair users who opened up astir their mundane lives and struggles, particularly the changeless request of assistance for immoderate of the astir basal things. Daga said that these interactions brought guardant however constricted mobility was impacting not conscionable movement, but besides one’s consciousness of independency and dignity.

“That was a turning constituent for us. We realised that mobility is much than conscionable getting from constituent A to constituent B—it’s astir freedom, independence, and prime of life. That’s what we wanted to code with NeoMotion,” Daga said.

The superpower of user-friendly design

During the conversation, Daga revealed that 1 of the cardinal aspects down NeoMotion’s occurrence is its accent connected user-centred design. “One large spread we identified is that astir wheelchairs successful the marketplace aren’t comfortable. Users told america they could lone usage their chairs for abbreviated periods due to the fact that of discomfort oregon backmost pain, which affected their quality to absorption connected enactment oregon studies. When we looked deeper, we recovered that astir wheelchairs were standardised, with small thought fixed to customisation. Mass-produced successful a azygous size, they didn’t accommodate antithetic assemblage types oregon needs,” Daga said.

Daga explained that dissimilar mean wheelchairs that are mass-produced successful modular sizes, NeoFly is simply a afloat customisable wheelchair that has been designed to conscionable the circumstantial needs of an individual. This attraction to item ensures that the wheelchair is functional and comfortable, allowing users to beryllium seated for agelong periods without immoderate discomfort.  “People were utilizing their wheelchairs for conscionable an hr oregon 2 a time due to the fact that they’d get backmost pain. That’s erstwhile we realised that the occupation wasn’t conscionable astir mobility; it was astir comfortableness and usability,” Daga said.

Founders of  NeoMotion (from near to right) Swostik Sourav Dash, Dr Sujatha Srinivasan, Siddarth Daga, and Ashish Sharma.

Daga said that NeoFly is tailored to the user’s assemblage measurements, with 18 customisation options including adjustments for hep width, thigh length, and enarthrosis height. “The level of customisation successful NeoFly is unmatched,” said Daga. “It’s designed to supply semipermanent comfort, allowing users to absorption connected their work, studies, oregon regular activities without worrying astir symptom oregon discomfort.”

How does it work?

NeoMotion comprises the NeoFly––the wheelchair––and NeoBolt, the attachment that doubles as a motorbike. The NeoFly addresses the request for comfortableness and stability, portion NeoBolt takes mobility to the adjacent level. NeoBolt is fundamentally an electrical attachment powered by a lithium-ion battery. As of now, determination are 2 variants––a 25 km scope and a 50 km range––models.

Daga explained that NeoBolt comes with 3 levels of velocity power –– 7 km/h, 15 km/h, and 25 km/h. The conveyance besides comes equipped with an anti-tip mechanics that prevents it from overturning during crisp turns. “We’ve patented some the attachment strategy and the anti-tip mechanism,” helium said.

“One of the biggest challenges wheelchair users look is outdoor mobility. They often person to beryllium connected idiosyncratic to assistance them get into a conveyance oregon navigate nationalist transport. With NeoBolt, we wanted to springiness radical the state to determination astir independently,” Daga said.

NeoMotion has been designed to connection comfortableness and mobility to its users. (Image: NeoMotion)

NeoBolt, according to the company, is much than conscionable a mode of transport. “It’s a instrumentality that empowers radical with disabilities to unrecorded their lives fully, whether that means going to work, gathering friends, oregon simply enjoying a time out,” Daga said.

On accessibility and affordability

The treatment besides led to wide held myths astir assistive technologies. One of the salient misconceptions is that these technologies are staggeringly costly and inaccessible to those who request them the most. Daga asserted that NeoMotion is committed towards breaking specified barriers, and offering highly functional yet affordable products.

“We’ve worked hard to support our products affordable without compromising connected quality,” Daga said.

The terms of the NeoFly-NeoBolt operation is Rs 1,10,000, which according to Daga, is substantially little compared to its planetary counterparts. “We’ve made definite that customisation and outdoor mobility are wrong scope for arsenic galore radical arsenic possible,” helium said.

The company’s products spell beyond mobility. For users similar Seyyad Shahzad Ali, NeoMotion has opened up caller opportunities of self-reliance. When asked astir the company’s aboriginal vision, Daga said that they person plans to instrumentality NeoMotion to different nations with akin demographics arsenic India. “We’re already exploring opportunities successful Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Our products are designed and made successful India, but their imaginable interaction is global.”

NeoFly was launched successful January 2020 and by October 2020, the institution offered its archetypal NeoBolt and NeoFly operation to a idiosyncratic successful Hyderabad. So far, NeoMotion has reached astir 5,200 users crossed India. “We person astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic successful each authorities and national territory, and we’ve adjacent reached Nepal and Bangladesh,” Daga said.