Rolling in Style: The Revolve Air & Phoenix i Wheelchairs, Featured in Graphis Journal #370

Do you know someone who uses a wheelchair and needs a serious upgrade? Consider giving the Revolve Air or Phoenix i, the latest in wheelchair technology and design, a try.

Travelling with a wheelchair is a pain with how it complicates security checks and how it’s hard to store correctly. The Revolve Air changes that. Created by Italian inventor Andrea Mocellin, this wheelchair folds in the same amount of time as a regular collapsible wheelchair, but saves 60% more space. The secret is Mocellin’s foldable Revolve wheels; built with a unique hexagon structure and with a 24-inch circumference, these airless tires have won awards such as the Asia Design Prize and the Green Product Award. The seat and backrest also require little action and no equipment to open or fold.

When folded, the Revolve Air easily fits into the trunk of a car as well as standard cabin baggage dimensions, allowing wheelchair users to keep the chair with them instead of checking it, reducing the risk of in-flight damage and saving valuable travel time before and after flying. While the price is currently unknown, the Revolve Air will be available in 2022 and can be reserved on the company’s website.

Smart technology can be found everywhere these days, including in wheelchairs! Scottish designer Andrew Slorance, founder and CEO of Phoenix Instinct, who developed the first wheelchair-compatible luggage system, is now developing the Phoenix i, the world’s first ultra-light smart wheelchair. The winner of the Mobility Unlimited Challenge, a design competition for paralysis mobility devices hosted by the Toyota Mobility Foundation and the Nesta Challenge Prize Center, the Phoenix i received a $1,000,000 prize that helped fund the wheelchair’s creation.

The frame is made of carbon fiber, making it lightweight and easily portable. Its smart technology is mainly incorporated in the adjustable axle. Built-in sensors can detect if the user is leaning forwards or backwards, and they constantly adjust so the wheelchair and user have the same center of gravity. This reduces the risk of falling backwards, thus creating an interactive user experience and a wheelchair that’s able yet stable, which would be impossible without smart systems.

Once the Phoenix i is ready, Phoenix Instinct will sell it at a price similar to regular wheelchairs since they wants smart wheelchairs to become widely used. “Wheelchairs are largely funded through reimbursement programs, so raising the ceiling on what insurers will pay means providing life-enhancing benefits and bringing greater savings to insurers in the long term,” says Slorance. “We intend to price the new wheelchair in line with conventional wheelchairs so as to speed up smart wheelchairs becoming the norm.”

To learn more about these and other products, preorder Graphis Journal #370 now.