LIFTUP

What it does

LIFTUP improves the autonomy and the life comfort of people having difficulties to sit down and stand up. The principle is to support people with upholding the posterior part of the body. No more feeling of falling nor need of being helped by someone else.

Your inspiration

After a certain age, after an accident, or even at birth it is frequent to meet people suffering of a gene to sit down or/and stand up. The causes are multiple : muscle wasting, neurological issue or permanent (or temporary) handicap. Current solutions such as electric lift up chair, lift up cushion or the help of someone are often expensive, poorly adapted or stigmatizing. Thus, we decided to design a product that looks like a traditional chair which system is activated by the user without electric power supply.

How it works

Concerning the mechanical part, LIFTUP is composed of two hydraulic pistons. The pistons are customizable on the will and weight of the user and will provide between 50% and 70% of the needed effort to stand up. The mechanism is tuned to control the speed of the descent and ascent. Moreover, his geometric has been studied to obtain a progressive accompaniment in function of standing up phases, so we will be able to take away the catapult effect or free-fall. Furthermore, the assistance could be lock if we wanted a normal seat. LIFTUP will be also be delivered in different pieces. It will be meaningful for several of our customers being able not to show their seats is designed to balance their handicap.

Design process

From the beginning, we have been discussing with people who having a gene. From the first sketch to the final concept, we considered essential to keep in touch with the potential users and to listen to their remarks and expectations concerning the project. Project’s cheminement : February 2017 : First sketch, concepts, benchmark. February 2017 — Mars 2017 : Development, improving of concepts, observation and discussion with users of different solutions. March 2017 : Realization of a first prototype with an adapting mechanism on a classic chair. April 2017 : mechanical conception and modeling. May 2017 : Conception, optimization and modeling of LIFTUP Jun – July 2017 : Preparation of the Dyson

How it is different

The following statements is about what makes our product different from the others you’ll be able to find on the market, LIFTUP is a seat that doesn’t need to be plugged in, it’s an integrated mechanical system and hidden in the seat. We have been focusing our conception on a device that does not stigmatize the handicap and which will be attractive for a large clientele. We can disarm the mechanism, which means that the seat will not always be in the up configuration. Moreover, we have a complete seat and not an adaptive product which allows us to improve his elegance. We have worked on the use by positioning the buttons in function of the hands and the weight of the body. We assure security, serene and simplicity thanks to a mechanism and easy use.

Future plans

The purpose will be to realize a fully functional prototype and to put it in a real situation with users, allowing to have a relevant feed-back on the seating experience and to do the necessary adjustment on the product.

Awards