The transformers come!

                            

                While there has been little exciting news in the realm of high-tech consumer electronics other than the soul-eating-time-devouring-productivity-killing Pokemon Go sometimes masquerading as therapeutic app for people with agoraphobia, and, more generally, a cure for most Americans' aversion to outdoor exercises; the iPad got faster and bigger, and not to be outdone, Samsung sported an enormous 20 inch Android tablet called Samsung View; The bloated Android tablets, of course, have been with us since 2011, with Viewsonic's Smart Monitor and HP's all-in-one Android Computer.

However, with the popularity of carbon fibre and other metal alloys, there has been a welcoming move by the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) industry to make traditionally bulky and heavy devices more mobile and portable.

                I first saw Luggie (a foldable scooter) in late 2014, when the vendor did a presentation at my work in Riverside, California. It folds into a luggage-shape so people can drag it around like a luggage.

                For folding demonstration video:

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toQI8xuf4Ic

                For vendor website:

                http://www.luggie-scooters.com/

The folding/unfolding operation takes 3~5 minutes for experts, 6~10 minutes for able-bodied people, but for a person with moderately severe CP, i.e. yours truly, it's just not going to happen. Despite this little setback, I imagine that the advent of the folding power-chairs can make life a lot easier for family members and caretakers of a disabled person. At least it eliminates the needs for the cumbersome hitch-based wheelchair carrier or electric-wheelchair lift.

                For folding demonstration of EZ Cruiser

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg2idBJOEbc

                For vendor website

                http://www.ezlitecruiser.com/

Then there is SmartDrive, a relatively portable detachable contraption that converts manual wheelchairs into semi-automatic self-propelling chair.

                For vendor website

                http://www.max-mobility.com/smartdrive/#mx2

               

Last but not the least there is Drive Medical Duet Dual Function Transport Wheelchair Walker Rollator:  These can be procured from Amazon.com or Walmart.com for a little more than $150.00, these rollator walkers can be folded into a Transport Chair, so that the family can just purchase one device instead of both. 

                For demonstration video:          

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F60tPZVjOhQ

In addition to the above mentioned devices, there are Air-Hawk foldable, Drive Cirrus Plus, Heartway P12j, and Drive Medical Wildcat; with all these options available, you'd be forgiven in thinking the portability in DME is becoming the new industrial standard. Alas, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS) have decided to classify these folding power chairs as recreational devices, which means, you guessed it, they are not covered; so, if a disabled individual wants to go out to catch a Pikachu or two, he or she would have to self-fund the portability until CMS decides to fund'em all.