Developed by the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs office in Minnesota, this remarkable twist on traditional wheelchairs allows users to not only ‘stand up’ on demand (including paraplegics) but to move and maneuver while upright as well.

Standing wheelchairs are not new, but most lock into position and can only be moved again once the user finishes in one spot and sits back down. This modified invention allows for more flexibility, using a market-made system with a bottom anchoring pad, removing that anchor, and adding a chain drive allowing the user to move around while upright.

For the first time in more than 20 years, John Christensen can reach a book on the top shelf without any help. “Makes life a little easier,” Christensen said. “You don’t have to ask anybody to do something for you.” Dr. Gary Goldish took an existing standing wheelchair, and with the input of engineers and veterans, came up with design chances. “We modified it by adding a drive wheel that separated the push rim from the tire,” Goldish said. “The tire is on the ground each time, but it’s just transferring the load between the front and back faster. And that’s what makes it stable and mobile.”

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A fresh iteration on a previous prototype, this latest version of the Halfbike, like its predecessor, offers a more compact way to cycle through the city and uses your movements to turn quickly in bike or pedestrian traffic. Handlebars are still a means of support and indirectly a way to pivot, but it is the user’s body weight that makes the motion happen.

So why Half when you could just Bike (or walk)? “The standing rider position is very close to walking. It allows the rider to control the Halfbike using his or her whole body instead of just the hands like on a bicycle. Furthermore, the spine stays straight and the chest is not constrained between your hands like it is on a bike, which makes using the full capacity of your lungs easier.” It is also great for car trunks that might not have full-bike space.”

The handlebars fold down to make the entire unit more compact, allowing you to carry it or roll it along easily on its back wheels like luggage. The learning curve is supposedly not too steep and the mode of turning relatively intuitive, but it may still take some time to get a feel for the ride. Each vehicle is hand-built by the company, though presumably this will change if they get sufficient market traction.

More on the design inspiration and half-biking experience: “We took the core driving mechanism of a classical bicycle (a wheel connected to a crankset) but redesigned pretty much everything else. The result – a vehicle that trains your balance and reflexes in a new way. Not only on a physical level but it also affects the way you perceive movement and enhances your senses. The standing rider position is essential for the Halfbike. It brings you closer to natural walking and it’s the only way to control the vehicle with your whole body and not just your hands. Halfbike is a sort of an extension to the body that allows a smooth and intuitive ride.”

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When you are operating on The Level, you can sit or stand but, either way, will be passively encouraged to stay in motion and make those 8-hour days a bit healthier and perhaps even more enjoyable.

Most Americans spend close to a full working day sitting, which is not only frustrating but also unhealthy – this inventor took lessons from his time at Teva (both regarding ergonomics and his own desk-bound experience) and put them to work in this novel (and frankly quite beautiful) device.

The Level by FluidStance “is a work platform that elicits subtle, constant movement below your feet to increase your range of motion and heart rate. Developed primarily as a tool for your immediate workspace, it can be used in common areas of both the home and office, or as a complement to a stand-up desk. The patent-pending design allows you to change the overall aesthetics via interchangeable top decks, floating bumpers, and base plates.”

This is about more than just keeping the blood flowing – excessive sitting has been linked to heart disease, cancer and depression. Many design solutions already attempt to resolve this, from spring-like seats to active health balls used as chairs. FluidStance claims extensive testing behind their work and many people have already queued up to reserve on on IndieGoGo by way of pre-ordering. A healthy mind and healthy body are linked, but whether this is the solution to reconnect both in our everyday work lives will remain to be seen.

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It’s a rather widely-accepted fact that sitting all day isn’t great for your health, but standing all day won’t do your body any favors, either. People who stand at work for eight or nine hours a day are at risk for all kinds of musculoskeletal problems.

The Chairless Chair from Swiss company Noonee is a wearable chair of sorts. It attaches to the body at the waist, thighs, knees and shoes. The lightweight aluminum and carbon fiber exoskeleton allows for the full range of movement when it isn’t engaged, so workers can go about their regular business unimpeded.

When it’s time to stop moving and take some weight off of the legs, it’s as simple as settling into a comfortable sitting position and pushing a button that locks the Chairless Chair into that posture. All of the body weight is directed to the heel of the wearer’s shoes. The chair lets the user choose the position that’s most comfortable for them and encourages ergonomically correct posture, further reducing the risk for body stress-related injuries.

This wearable chair doesn’t give the user superpowers or increase their muscle strength in any way; it just takes the strain off of their lower extremities to combat muscle fatigue, poor posture, and long-term musculoskeletal damage. Noonee pictures the Chairless Chair being useful in a wide variety of settings, but for now their focus is on getting it into factories where workers have to perform various functions while standing for an entire shift.

The post Sitting is the New Standing: Wearable Chairless Chair first appeared on Gajitz.