Cities of the Future: How to Design an Accessible World

One of my first articles for my Beacon series on futuristic health technologies was about Xavier Horan, a man in his early thirties trying to raise US$150,000 to buy an exoskeleton.

Like many people, I’ve been inspired by the wearable robot’s massive potential to improve quality of life for people who have paralysis.

However, the technology is not yet affordable — Horan still needs nearly $140,000 to reach his goal after a year of fundraising — and not everyone is a candidate to use an exoskeleton.

Besides certain height and weight restrictions (generally between 5 foot 2 and 6 foot 4 and a maximum weight of 220 pounds) only people whose bones are able to support weight can operate one. Paired with price, millions of people with mobility issues can’t access such technology.

To rectify the social issues that arguably foster the unequal access faced by people with disabilities, technologies of the future must extend past the individual. They must move beyond making one person’s health and wellbeing an isolated responsibility, compartmentalized from the larger population.

We can do better. Such new technologies must and be applied to transform the cities and towns we live in to make them more accessible.

Below I briefly touch upon what can be done with transportation and artificial intelligence systems. While my insights are hardly complete or perfect, my aim is to start a conversation and my own research on this important topic.

1. Transportation

Getting from point A to point B can be a challenge in busy cities for anyone. The way transportation is organized in cities also presents particular problems for people with mobility issues.

For instance, on public transportation such as buses there are limited areas available for people in wheelchairs, and they must be shared with parents with strollers. Often there are just two spaces. If a bus arrives and the areas are already full, a person must wait and hope that in the next bus one will be free.

There are alternatives for people who use wheelchairs, which include dedicated taxi and bus services. However, these are often for scheduled group outings and can be costly if intended for private rides.

What brings me great excitement is the potential of driverless cars, which futurists expect will be used globally by 2025. While still being tested, there’s talk that they could be more efficient and actually safer than cars driven by humans. There are already plans to use them in services like Uber.

Many different people who fall between a wide range of points on the mental and physical disability spectrum could have an adaptive car at their doorsteps in minutes. Some people will likely want to drive themselves places; however, financially, physically, and cognitively, this is not always an option. Once popularized, driverless taxi services set up for inclusivity could be an affordable and convenient way to get around.

According to one study, driverless automobiles could result in there being fewer vehicles on the road. This is because they could be shared between family members in different locations. Mom can get dropped off at the gym, then the car could go pick up dad at work.

A welcome side effect to having fewer cars on the road is that sidewalks would likely become less blocked. For blind people who use walking canes to navigate their neighborhoods, their safety depends on sidewalks being clear so they don’t need to venture into traffic lanes. Nex time you are out, note how many vehicles block paths on pedestrian walkways.

2. Artificial Intelligence Systems

In the often referenced film Her, inhabitants of a futuristic world use intelligent operating systems as personal assistants. People carry them around in small hand-held phones, and they help with personal problems and routine tasks like scheduling. In essence, they are super smart Siri’s able to learn and evolve.

For people without the use of their hands, the voice control feature offers a convenient way to perform everyday activities and work duties. In fact, people with limited function of other body parts, who may find getting up and moving an incredibly grueling and draining chore — if not an impossible one — could rest easy and have artificial intelligence do the work for them. All they would have to do is ask.

As more objects become connected to the Internet, the potential for such operating systems to control the world around us is expanding. The systems would link beyond one device, and could become part of infrastructure and items in our direct environment.

Once settled in bed, a person could ask for the door to close or for a window to open. Sitting on a couch in a living room, someone may realize a work email they forgot to send, and then have it dictated and delivered by speaking aloud to the system set up in the room.

Of course, for people with speech disorders or who are unable to speak, voice-activated technology is not a solution. However, such advances could prove life changing for people who live with chronic illness and musculoskeletal issues; who may become exhausted easily and would otherwise need to carefully plan out their days so as not to overwork themselves. To learn more about what it’s like to live with chronic illness and pain, I highly recommend reading Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino.

While some of my examples illustrate how someone can use this technology at home, it could also be embedded into public buildings and workplaces. Though, keep in mind that working from home can be a much more accessible environment than an outside office, so there may actually be no difference between the locations.

Image source: Sam Howzit

This article was originally published as part of the “Health Technology and the Future” series on Beacon Reader.

Originally published at TechAble World.