'Wheelchair' Designed by UNIST... Lightweight and Stylish

UNIST Wins IDEA2020 Grand Prize with Oro Plum
Ultralight Material Structure and In-Wheel Motor Equipped 'Wheelchair'
From Patient-Only Wheelchair to Personal Mobility Device

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] The wheelchair, once associated with patients, is being reinvented as a personal mobility device. A research team led by Professor Jeong Yeon-woo of the Department of Design at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology announced on the 5th that their wheelchair design concept, "Oro Plum," won the main award in the "Medical and Health" category of the professional concept division at the American design award "IDEA 2020." The research team plans to launch Oro Plum next year through collaboration with a domestic small and medium-sized enterprise.

Oro Plum is a wheelchair made from ultra-lightweight materials, with motors installed inside both wheels (in-wheel motors). Since the electric motors assist movement, user convenience is greatly improved. The ultra-lightweight materials used include graphene and mesh-shaped high-elasticity fabric. These materials have enabled a revolutionary reduction in the wheelchair's weight and made it possible to develop a wheelchair powered solely by in-wheel motors.

Professor Jeong Yeon-woo explained, "Wheelchair users have to endure being perceived as 'patients' while struggling to push heavy wheelchairs. Oro Plum is a wheelchair that breaks the stereotype of being used only by people with physical ailments by being light, beautiful, and a convenient means of transportation."

Users can easily operate Oro Plum by simply pushing the wheels without a separate controller for motor operation. Pushing both wheels activates the motors, and pulling stops them. To change direction, users only need to push one wheel.

Professor Jeong's team is working beyond the design of Oro Plum to prepare for the actual product launch. They are producing mass-produced products next year through joint work with Drone Dome Co., Ltd.

Professor Jeong said, "If Oro Plum establishes itself as a 'personal transportation device' that anyone wants to ride, wheelchairs can overcome prejudice and encounter new possibilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.