TOPIC
Accessibility
Stories containing inventions related to Accessibility, tracing similar ideas across companies and years through patent drawings.
STORIES
Things · Umbrellas
Umbrellas That Read the Weather: Ten Patents for Reinventing Rain Gear
Let a drone carry it overhead. Wear it on the body. Cover a dog. Deploy it from a wheelchair. Measure rain, show a forecast, light up, spray cooling mist, and even harvest wind. Ten US patent drawings show the umbrella becoming much more than a roof held in one hand.
Things · Sleep
The Sleeper Stays Still. Everything Around Them Starts Moving: 9 Sleep Patents
A pillow that moves your head when you snore, a light-emitting sleep mask, a two-chamber sleep pod, a rocking bed, a robotic bed maker, a bed that separates into a wheelchair, localized snore cancellation, ceiling projection tied to sleep state, and a sleeping bag connected to its own heat exchanger.
Things · Bathrooms
The Toilet Seat as a Measuring Instrument, and Eight Other Patent Ideas
A toilet that personalizes light and sound, sensors that hunt for a urine stream, a urine analyzer built into the seat, camera-based health monitoring, a sealed analytical bowl, weight estimation from the seat, a cleaner that travels around the ring, a folding toilet-table, and a toilet that changes height for the user.
Companies · Honda
Walk, Grasp, Support, Ride, Fly: Honda Patents That Expand Mobility
A hand-holding biped robot, five-finger robot hand, sign-language robot, bodyweight support assist, upper-body assist frame, omnidirectional personal mobility, an automated wheelchair-to-vehicle interface, telepresence robot, a self-moving shopping cart and eVTOL: ten Honda patent drawings that push mobility beyond the car.