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Stay on Corporate siteKONE Corporation, press release, May 4,
2021
KONE DX Experiments competition identifies opportunity to connect wheelchairs to smart building technology.
Five-time Finnish Paralympic gold medal winning sprinter Leo-Pekka Tähti celebrates the innovative experiment which allows wheelchair users to move more seamlessly through buildings.
KONE, a global
leader in the elevator and escalator industry, has announced the
development of a new tech solution designed to enable wheelchair
users to navigate modern buildings more easily by connecting
elevators and wheelchairs.
The connected wheelchair concept is being developed following its
selection as the winning idea from KONE's DX Experiments
competition, launched in January 2021 to identify new innovative
ideas on what to connect to an elevator. The competition attracted
460 new ideas.
It will enable a wheelchair to be integrated and connected to
KONE's elevators via its API (application programming interface)
platform, allowing it to also work with other applications within a
smart building management system.
The winning idea came from a French entrant and was inspired by
the difficulties faced by care home residents when moving around
the facility. The innovative concept aims to aid mobility and
building navigation reducing waiting times and friction, allowing
users' wheelchairs to alert an elevator to their arrival or
schedule an elevator when they need, taking them to the correct
floor.
The technology is being created to work with smart wheelchairs or
as a solution which can be retrofitted to existing wheelchairs. The
design could mean that in the future, facilities such as care homes
or other smart buildings could produce a better on-demand service
for wheelchair users.
Five-time Finnish Paralympic gold medal winning sprinter Leo-Pekka
Tähti, an advocate for better inclusivity and accessibility for the
disabled community in the built environment, is acting as a
consultant as the design is developed. Despite being the world's
fastest man in a wheelchair, Tähti is often slowed down by
inconsiderate building design.
He said: "Wheelchair users know how frustrating it
can be trying to get around in a world that hasn't taken their
needs into account. Being delayed because an elevator is full or
because we are held up by inaccessible design can become another
daily frustration that wheelchair users have to allow for."
"We become experts at adapting to fit into a world that wasn't
designed with us in mind. Although improvements have been made, we
need urgent investment and innovation in the built environment
sector so that wheelchair users can move around our public spaces
and buildings with independence. The connected wheelchair concept
offers us a glimpse at what is possible when society invests,
innovates and commits to improving the day-to-day lives of
wheelchair users."
According to the World Health Organization, 75 million people
require a wheelchair on a daily basis, and a further 1.7 billion
are impacted by blindness and visual impairment. This highlights
the need for technologies which can provide a more supportive and
inclusive environment whether at home, office or in a care
facility.
Maciej Kranz, Chief Technology Officer at KONE
said: "The KONE DX Experiments competition has been a
great example of what we can achieve through collaboration,
partnership and working with our market leading connected
solutions. We would like to thank all of those who entered,
highlighting a wealth of innovative opportunities. The winning
concept will start with a wheelchair connected to a KONE DX Class
elevator, and with our platform it can be expanded further, as we
continue to explore how we can make smart urban environments work
for everyone. There are almost no limits to what we can do, using
our existing technology we can connect to almost anything, making
creative solutions like this possible."
The KONE DX Experiments competition focused on how KONE DX Class
elevators, alongside our technology and innovation could make
people flow in buildings even smoother and more
accessible.
The criteria for entries focused on originality, innovative
thinking, and usefulness, as well as the feasibility to deliver a
working version of the solution. This reflects KONE's mission to
improve the flow of urban life, creating smarter, more sustainable
cities together with its customers.
The winner was selected from entries for the Europe, Middle East
and Africa regions by a panel of KONE's leadership team members.
The competition will continue in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Development work will start immediately, with the innovation
available for testing later this summer.
For further information, please
contact:
Hanna Rutanen, Director, External Communications, KONE
Corporation, tel. +358 41 507 1361, media@kone.com
Read
more
Read more about the winning idea and
competition
Read more about KONE DX Class elevators
For images and videos, visit KONE's Material
Bank
Watch the
mind-controlled elevator video
Previous press releases are available at https://www.kone.com/en/news-and-insights/releases/
including:
January 21, 2021: KONE announces an open competition to connect
almost anything to an elevator
May 7, 2020: KONE DX Class elevators win four prestigious Red
Dot Design Awards
November 29, 2019: KONE DX Class elevators take the industry into a
new era - the world's first elevator series with built-in digital
connectivity as standard
About
KONE
At KONE, our mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a
global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides
elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as
solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to
buildings throughout their life cycle. Through more effective
People Flow®, we make people's journeys safe, convenient and
reliable, in taller, smarter buildings. In 2020, KONE had annual
sales of EUR 9.9 billion, and at the end of the year over 60,000
employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki
Ltd. in Finland.
www.kone.com
KONE DX Experiments Winner announcement Press release