Joy Force was designed specifically for Micheal Muhamy who suffered from an incomplete spinal cord injury which left him paralyzed from his shoulder down.
Design challenge
To design a joystick and arm rest of a wheelchair for a quadriplegic person who is paralyzed shoulder down. All the movements were pivoted only from the shoulder. Since the user suffered from tone which would restrict his movement at times and make it difficult to reach the joystick, the arm rest needed to be able to move closer to the joystick while also be able to move away easily in case of spasms. The joystick would also need a visual guide as the user lacked the sense of touch.
Concept Development
Mock ups for user testing
Iteration 1
Feedback for Iteration 1
“The wrist pad feel uncomfortable. The side panels are too high and do not feel very easy to pull away from in case of a spasm.”
- Over all experience felt congested.
Iteration 2
Feedback from Iteration 2
“The thumb hole does not need to be completely covering the thumb and the hole needs to be wider dip.”
- Overall experience felt comfortable but needed iteration.
Iteration 3
Feedback from iteration 3
“The gap between the front and side panel made it feel comfortable and spacious. I Felt easy to pull out in case of a spasm and the wide angle dip made it easy to pull backwards with the wrist in order to reverse.”
- Overall experience felt really good and was finalized to move ahead for the prototype
Finalized design
Design Solutions
The arm rest pulls away from the joystick along with the hand in case of a spasm for easy release from the joy stick so as to not hit the controls unintentionally while providing continued support.
Ease of release from the joystick no matter in which position the user is sitting in.
The joystick provides an extra dip in the side panels to be able to reverse by using a finger as well. If needed, can also be pulled backwards using the wrist by placing it on the dip on the front panel. In order to turn, the user just has to slide his hand and push either of the panels in the direction he wants to move in.
The color red was chosen to act as a visual guide.
