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Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

vertiwalk.com

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Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#131

Post by skj »

mightybyte wrote: post #130

This looks like a simple and elegant solution to a very real problem that affects lots of people's lives. But I can't help but think that in addition to the obvious upside of giving people a lot of autonomy, there's a significant downside here that should not be ignored. The flip side of making basic life activities easier is that if a person gets used to it, it can be pretty easy to slip into the complacency of rely…

I don't think "this is a dangerous idea because people might need it to function" is a great take.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#132

Post by toss1 »

robbmorganf wrote: post #120

I love this idea, particularly empowering people to move without feeling like they need electrical assistance. If this is to become a widespread product, I think it needs to address two linked issues: (a) the product appears to be tuned to the specific weight of an individual, so that the counterweights/springs are neutral in use. Changing between individuals (or changing weight should the individual gain/lose weight…

While electric or hydraulic would be the easy way to make it move on its own when it's on the wrong floor, but not the only way. I'm sure that a system with a rope, pulley, and latching could be used to move it up or down just fine, albeit a bit more slowly. For moving from the higher to the lower level, one could design a setup so it just ratchets itself down with gravity, just clicking down a few cm at a time instead of just releasing and falling down, and this could also serve as a bit of a safe/speedy descent mode if the user can't do the whole motion one day. For ascending, just releasing the catch and pulling up on a pully/winch with a ratcheting mechanism would get it up there fine.

I really like these designers' ethos of not using electricity, and it'd be best to keep that intact as capabilities are added.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#133

Post by LocalH »

gertrunde wrote: post #64
thanhhaimai wrote: post #56

I think Vertiwalk might be a solution for people who want to exercise. But if the main issue is to travel between floors, I think installing your own mini elevator might be a better solution. It doesn't take much more space, but it's fast and can carry the wheel chair with you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqMZfQODJZo

Beyond the cost issue mentioned by others, the exercise element that you mention is maybe more important than you think - older folk often fare better if they can stay active, and this might be a subtle way to provide that. Also there's the physical size - 80cm x 80cm - retrofitting an elevator into a small property has some serious space demands.

>older folk often fare better if they can stay active

I can directly vouch for that, in an anecdotal way. My mother, in her last months, fought through immense pain to do her daily activities. After a four day stay in the hospital for a heart-related issue, she was never able to walk unassisted again.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#134

Post by exikyut »

wyager wrote: post #32
teraflop wrote: post #5

In case anyone else was irritated by the inability to scrub through the auto-playing video, adding this CSS rule in your browser's dev tools should fix it: .vp-progress { display: block !important; }

One actually useful function of the macbook touch bar is that it gives you an always-on scrubber.

Realisation: you could do this with any modern touchpad.

Realisation 2: you could trap scroll events and implement the whole thing in-browser.

...hmmmm, interesting...

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#135

Post by DanielVZ »

Cerium wrote: post #36
DanielVZ wrote: post #33

This reminds me a lot of a video of a retired man that uses his new free time moving large objects just by leveraging gravity. I can't find it right now but I think that there's a potential there for new ways movement just like the vertiwalk.

Perhaps you are thinking of Wally Wallington? A retired carpenter who produced some videos on moving Stonehenge sized blocks? https://web.archive.org/web/20160302003628/http://www.thefor...

Yeah, that's him.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#136

Post by monitron »

mightybyte wrote: post #130

This looks like a simple and elegant solution to a very real problem that affects lots of people's lives. But I can't help but think that in addition to the obvious upside of giving people a lot of autonomy, there's a significant downside here that should not be ignored. The flip side of making basic life activities easier is that if a person gets used to it, it can be pretty easy to slip into the complacency of rely…

I mean the person in the video has MS and is presumably never going to get back the function she has lost in her left side. She was unable to go downstairs unassisted before this device. She's not training for strength, she just needs to be able to access her whole house.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#137

Post by __MatrixMan__ »

skj wrote: post #131
mightybyte wrote: post #130

This looks like a simple and elegant solution to a very real problem that affects lots of people's lives. But I can't help but think that in addition to the obvious upside of giving people a lot of autonomy, there's a significant downside here that should not be ignored. The flip side of making basic life activities easier is that if a person gets used to it, it can be pretty easy to slip into the complacency of rely…

I don't think "this is a dangerous idea because people might need it to function" is a great take.

I had a roommate who was exceedingly stylish in an alternative sort of way. He once won a prohibition-era costume contest just dressed like he always does. He later suffered a smattering of strokes, during his recovery we got him a cane.

He thought the cane was such a cool accessory that we had to have a sort of intervention: Dude, you're in your 20's, don't give up on walking without a cane just because you think your cane makes you look distinguished.

So yeah, it's a real thing, but I think it's more of something to be aware of while you're using the product rather than a critique of the product: It's a crutch, crutches come with disclaimers.

Re: Vertiwalk Vertical Walking

#139

Post by robbmorganf »

toss1 wrote: post #132
robbmorganf wrote: post #120

I love this idea, particularly empowering people to move without feeling like they need electrical assistance. If this is to become a widespread product, I think it needs to address two linked issues: (a) the product appears to be tuned to the specific weight of an individual, so that the counterweights/springs are neutral in use. Changing between individuals (or changing weight should the individual gain/lose weight…

While electric or hydraulic would be the easy way to make it move on its own when it's on the wrong floor, but not the only way. I'm sure that a system with a rope, pulley, and latching could be used to move it up or down just fine, albeit a bit more slowly. For moving from the higher to the lower level, one could design a setup so it just ratchets itself down with gravity, just clicking down a few cm at a time inste…

I think it currently stores energy in a spring, hence helping the user go up and recovering energy on the way down.

I was just suggesting that if the energy can be stored in a battery or hydraulic accumulator, it's easier to change the "counterweight" force. In both cases, I think it can be done without any net assistance from the electrical grid.

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