An article on CNETnews.com describes the way it works:

Sensors at the elbow and wrist allow a healthy arm to control the eight artificial muscles, which are powered by compressed air, on the paralyzed side.

There’s a little more information here at TODAYonline.com — you’ll have to enable JavaScript to read all the text.

Price at the time of the Tokyo show was around $17,000 USD; but this article says that Matsushita hopes to bring the jacket to market in 2009, selling first to rehab facilities, and, eventually, to individuals for around 2,100 dollars.

According to the article in TODAYonline, the point isn’t merely to move the paralyzed arm, but to train the damaged nerves and muscles.

The “power jacket” weighs in at just about four pounds; in this incarnation, it’s got a sleek Star Trek look, which is only fitting, considering that the concept is so wonderfully Borgian.

Via Boing-Boing

Come to think of it, just about every household could use a reacher or two in strategic places.

I’ve used lots of reachers that handle chunky stuff (think cans, etc.) but this is the first one I’ve used successfully for a situation requiring a more deft touch.

Using it, I was able to lift a business card repeatedly from a flat, hard counter with no trouble at all — the tips are ‘grippy’ and more sensitive than those on the heavier duty reachers.

For those finer pick-up tasks (pens, pencils, pieces of paper, a comb, etc.), this could be a great solution. It’s available on Amazon and comes in various lengths.

Maybe it’s too much of a nuisance to haul cartons of small items to a show, but it’s so difficult to track them down out in the wild, and tough to determine if what you’re seeing on a web page will really do the job. Is there a better place to sell the tools that can make daily living easier? Is there better exposure? A better focus group? Honestly, I’d really like to know . . .

Coolest not-yet-existing product at the WCD Expo? The ATRS system — essentially a conversion van which uses remote control to return your wheel chair to its docking point inside your van. ‘ATRS’ stands for ‘Automated Tranport and Retrieval System.’

The system is expected to include Freedom Lift’s Freedom Seat, the Tracker with Dock ‘n’ Lock with the ATRS. The Freedom Seat lifts, rotates, and lowers outside a vehicle next to a wheelchair for a side-to-side transfer, and re-entry into the vehicle. The Tracker is a wheelchair lift with a locking/docking component (Dock ‘n’ Lock).

These two items (three, if you count the Dock ‘n’Lock as separate) are available now, but the cool part is the ATRS — the software and hardware that Freedom Sciences has developed to use the Freedom Seat and the Tracker as parts of a remote control system. This system will allow you to roll up in your chair, transfer to the Freedom Seat and remotely send your wheelchair from the front vehicle door to the Tracker, load it onto the Tracker, dock it, slide it into the vehicle and stow it — all while you’re sitting in your van (mini or otherwise).

That’s cool enough, but the kicker is that the Freedom Seat and Tracker don’t require any drilling for installation — they install in the existing manufacturer slots for the OEM seats. Yes, you can take it with you . . . this conversion can follow you from van to van, reducing the cost of conversion considerably over time.

At the moment, cost of the system and van is estimated at more or less the cost of a full conversion van, so (and assuming this is still true when it becomes available) the initial cost won’t be any saving, but should add up as vans get replaced.

It won’t be for everyone, but for those who can use it, this system, with its fabulous robotic component, could offer unparalled freedom for many, along with the opportunity to ride and drive in a fully-tested safer automotive seat. Launch is set for spring 2007.

I have high hopes for this baby. In defiance of all previous known manufacturer/developer practices, the engineers are actually using the system themselves — in a (gasp!) wheelchair, just as if they expected it to work the way they’re designing it. Way-to-go guys!

The show model had an electric ramp; a manual is also available. See it on the Freedom Motors website. Thanks to the Element’s unusual doors, access to the back seat (and yes, you can leave the standard, production back seat) is easy-pie — just load those kids, family, friends right in!

Externally, the XWav appears identical to any other Element; better yet, it parks and goes just like an Element (oh, yeah, I admit it, it’s one of my favorite cars of all time). Flip and flop those cool Element back seats, and you can go just about anywhere and do just about anything . . . roomy inside, but so much smaller than a van! And so much more economical (and fun) to run . . .

Incidentally, the reps claimed that ground clearance was not significantly impaired. For off-roading, maybe, but visually it looks plenty adequate for paved streets driven at legal speeds. You can identify the conversion if you’re very observant and know what you’re looking for, but the alteration to the exterior is surprisingly subtle.

AeroMobility also has the conversion, and excellent pictures, on its site. This one’s of a full front-seat conversion, with the floor dropped across the front, to accomodate both a driver and a passenger in wheelchairs.

Cost? New Element, around $20,000. Conversion with electric ramp, around $21,000. Total? A wallet-popping $41,000 — maybe more by the time you’re actually out the door.

Drop the price by buying a used Element and converting it. (Hint — look for one at a non-Honda dealership, where it’s been traded in — you’ll usually get a better price than at a Honda dealer because the non-Honda dealer customers aren’t pre-disposed toward Honda, much less the Element.)

Or watch Disabled Dealer (a print version’s available, too) for a used conversion from a private party — needs change, people’s lives change, and this is ever a good source for disability aids.

Another option: eBay Motors, but only for the experienced, the cynical, and those prepared to work hard to find an honest deal.

That said, I had no luck at all finding an affordable, used Element conversion during my recent van search. The Element’s a fairly recent model for Honda, and maybe, just maybe, this is a conversion people can live with. Which is more than I can say for the one I actually did buy. More on that later.

Essentially, it serves the function of a standard cane, but relying on forearm support rather than just the wrist. It’s kind of a cane/forearm crutch hybrid, without the clumsiness of a forearm crutch.

I preferred it to any cane I’ve used in the past — it’s just as light as a standard cane, but feels far more stable, and the handle felt like a comfortable extension of my arm. I wondered if the rather attractive curve of the cradle would feel bulky or awkward, but I hardly noticed it, and the cane seemed to move organically with me as I walked.

The rubber tip is larger than typical ones, and has a natural grip and spring rather like on the soles of my favorite walking shoes. Foam sleeves on the grip and arm are a big plus for ease of use and comfort. An unexpected bonus is that the foam keeps the cane from sliding off of tables, chairs and walls it’s set against.

Retail cost is higher than a typical cane — at sixty dollars retail, about two-to-three-times the price of a basic off-the-rack model. Here’s hoping StrongArm gets their website fixed so people can contact them and find their product.