Lift - more than a walking stick

Was es macht

Beyond providing support when walking, it also helps with standing up again. Through its unique shape, it is easy to securely place Lift on walls, tables, or in the car. The elegant appearance of Lift could help grow social acceptance for all walking aids.

Deine Inspiration

We are facing a demographic change in the upcoming decades, leading to an increase in the help tools needed. But still, those tools haven’t shown significant improvements in the last years. Especially when it comes to social aspects. Using a walking stick can communicate needs to others but also create social discomfort for the User. Reframing the walking stick and its usage to make it become a desirable fashion accessory rather than a medical device.

So funktioniert es

The shape of the walking stick allows you to turn it around and wrap it around the leg. This creates an extension of the shin and augments the leg with a handle. The handle enables an easy lift from a sitting position, without exerting force on the knee. There are a left and a right version of the „Lift“ depending on the side of the injury that needs support. Therefore for the use on the left hand, the „Lift“ is made to fit the leg on the opposite side to not put a strain on the injured side.

Designprozess

The whole design process was executed in a physical way. Therefore several prototypes were built in a research-based design process. Making little changes from previous to the following prototype. To make sure it fits all sizes and ergonomic capabilities of all people it was necessary to keep the process empiric. Starting with a simple garden hose filled with metal wire to bend it into shape, we ended up with an aesthetically driven clay model based on the ergonomic prototypes from our previous tests.

Warum es anders ist

Compared to other walking sticks, Lift comes with some revised features. Its shape allows us to securely place Lift on walls, tables, or in the car, unlike other canes that tend to fall over all the time. It also gives secure and comfortable support lifting yourself from a sitting position what turned out to be one of the hardest daily tasks for walking stick users.

Pläne für die Zukunft

For further development, we are excited to look deeper into materials and production processes. Even though we want it to be a quality product, it is supposed to be accessible to everyone. Besides making it from carbon fiber, we want to test models made from aluminum by hydroforming. To create a cheaper, faster, but a more sustainable version of the previous one. Furthermore, replacement parts are currently in development to exchange everything that touches the floor.

Auszeichnungen

we are happy to announce that we have been nominated for aed - Neulwand 2019