So Much More

by Nathan Gencher

Project Description

As a combined effort between Transitions Foundation of Guatemala and UTS, this project aims to develop the mental connections and pathways within children waiting for wheelchairs and giving them the freedom to play. While some wheelchair toys exist in recognised toy brands such as LEGO, Barbie, and HOT Wheels, they always seem to lack secondary or tertiary functionality present in other toy sets on the market. This can lead to children with mental or physical development challenges feeling they are not represented in their toys. This project aims to challenge this notion and allow any child the freedom to play without wondering if they belong or not. The base model is a defined wheelchair directed at teaching children the movement fundamentals of using a wheelchair before they gain their full-sized one. However, with added clip-on components, the wheelchair transforms into a truck or various other vehicles, allowing the child’s imagination to roam freely. Therefore, it demonstrates not just to the child but to others around them that a wheelchair cannot hold them back and they can truly achieve anything they set their mind to. The future of this project aims to develop more transformative options for the base model. Eventually it will extend beyond vehicles towards animals and other natural modes of transport.

Bio

Professional communication gave me a real-world brief to design for, allowing me to gain experience I never thought I would have during my University career. Through this class I was able to explore and design for a user group that I had not investigated before, and I felt that by improving the lives of children with mental or physical development challenges, I can use my design skills to really make a difference in this world and be the positive change I want to see.

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2020 bachelor index