UPNRIDE Powered Wheelchair for Individuals With Walking Impairment: Evaluation of Safety and Usability

A new powered wheelchair has recently been developed to address the ability of the user to be able to position them in an upright, standing position. This new device is called the UPnRIDE powered wheelchair and is different from other upright wheelchairs because current standing wheelchair models have limited mobility in the standing position. The UPnRIDE is an upright or seated mobility device that is intended to provide full upright standing posture in a mobile powered wheelchair. The UPnRIDE powered wheelchair provides wheelchair and scooter users the ability to engage in society in either a standing (upright mobility) or seated position (seated mobility). Additionally, the option to have upright posture throughout the day may have the potential to improve some of the secondary medical conditions associated with the extreme sedentary lifestyle that paralysis from SCI imposes. This wheeled, motorized device can provide mobility to most urban environment situations by being able to be navigated indoors and outdoors and over different surfaces in both the standing or seated positions.