Drs. DePoy and Gilson: Afari Mobility Device To Be in Exhibit at Cooper-Hewett Museum
Drs. Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson have been invited by Cara McCarty, curator at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York, to include AFARI, their mobility invention, in the upcoming exhibit “Access+ Ability” (https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/1141959921/). Drs. DePoy and Gilson have been working with Dr. Vince Caccese and engineer Ryan Beaumont to develop, test, and commercialize the AFARI, a stylized mobility device to foster outdoor activity (http://mobility-tech.com). AFARI is a unique co-designed mobility support that solves the problems of inadequate and unsafe functionality, stigma, and abandonment that keep many people sedentary and isolated. The device exhibits the design principles of seamlessness, elegance, and functionality by promoting upright posture and allowing the user to actively steer and control the forward motion. AFARI can be customized with numerous features, wheels, and colors for diverse terrain and individual tastes. They team is now developing an electronic sensor system to monitor balance and gait. The Cooper Hewitt Museum (founded in 1896) is one of the few Smithsonian Institutes located outside Washington, DC and is home to the National Design Awards. The exhibition, Access+ Ability, will be on display from December 15th, 2017 through September 3, 2018 in New York City (https://www.cooperhewitt.org/)
