Wed 18 May, London - Disrupt disability. #HackOnWheels

Event for those interested in open hardware: http://www.hackonwheels.org/disrupt-disability/

As part of the legacy of the London Paralympics, at Here East, London’s newest innovation space, we are bringing together the most creative, innovative, disruptive leaders in the disability, design, research, health, opensource, maker and tech spaces to hack wheelchairs.

According to the World Health Organization over 65 million people need a wheelchair to be part of society and live an independent life. To give freedom a wheelchair must be customized to the body, environment, and lifestyle of its user. Due to the prohibitive price of traditional design manufacturing, and distribution 52 million people who need a wheelchair are deprived of this freedom.

We believe that digital fabrication, open hardware, and the maker movement can change this.

We are establishing an online library of opensource designs and instructions for making fully customizable wheelchairs that anyone can freely use, adapt and develop.

We are forming a community of makers and people who need wheelchairs connected, inspired and enabled to create fully customized wheelchairs.

We are hacking wheelchairs.

We need you.

Join us to find out more and help solve three challenges:

  1. How can we develop opensource designs for fully customizable wheelchairs?

  2. How can we engage a community of designers, makers and hackers to use and grow an online library of designs?

  3. How can we create a sustainable business model that supports #HackOnWheels commitment to free access to open source design?

When: 18 May 2016, 10:30-16:30

Where: Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 3BS

Register: www.hackonwheels.org/join-the-movement

Questions: please email disrupt_disability@hackonwheels.org

2 Likes

Thanks for sharing this @jcmolloy.
Rachel, who is organizing the event, is looking for collaboration with open knowledge folks in Lond. She already worked together with us in Austria, and it was a lot of fun and doing great things.
Would be very nice if someone gets in touch with her and will take part to spread the idea of open knowledge.

Amazing! Thank you @jcmolloy @stefankasberger!

Yes, it would be great to have some open knowledge people on the 18th May to collaborate on the project and to help bring everyone up to speed on what open knowledge is an why it matters! Please do email me directly if you have any questions rachael.wallach@hackonwheels.org!

1 Like