THE ACCESS
Student: Ryan Eder
School: University of Cincinnati
Winner of IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) Gold, The Best in Show and People's Choice awards.
The Access is universal fitness equipment that accommodates all users, regardless of size, shape, mobility, or fitness experience. It was designed to address an ongoing issue within public fitness centers. Fitness is crucial to living a long and healthy life. Public fitness centers are placed all over the world to provide the public the opportunity to improve their health and stay active. Unfortunately, many of the machines in these centers exclude a crucial part of our society; a part that many people tend to overlook. Wheelchair users, geriatrics, and veterans of war own a substantial portion of our population, yet most of the available equipment does not provide for them. The Access does.
The Access is designed to be a machine that eliminates the need for dexterity. Many times, people struggle with pulling pins in and out to select their weight resistance. Some cannot move the articualting arms due to the amount of dexterity that is required to do so. All of the functions on standard machines have been simplified to mechanisms in which even the user with the most disadvantage, an incomplete quadriplegic, can workout on the machine independently. The Access is not a machine that excludes. Anyone can use it. It is not a machine that is meant for just wheelchair users, geriatrics, or veterans. It is meant for everyone from an elite athlete to someone who wants to loose there holiday weight.
The Access was developed as Ryan Eder's senior thesis while attending the University of Cincinnati. It was actually 3 years prior to that when he saw a man at a local fitness center come up in a wheelchair to work out. He observed from a distance, curious as to how the man was going to manage to use the provided equipment. He had a bag full of homemade accessories that he customized just to help him accommodate to the machines. You could see how frustrating it would be to workout at a center that was not built with you in mind. At this point, Ryan felt there had to be a better way. 3 years after, it was time for his senior thesis. It was a 10 week project. He designed this equipment with the extreme user in mind: The incomplete quadriplegic. By designing for the extreme, Ryan can develop a machine that all can benefit from. He worked closely with paraplegics and quadriplegics on a daily basis. He researched with The Lakeshore Foundation, which is an organisation that trains the paralympic athletes. Ryan also worked with other organisations such as BlazeSports and Ohio Wheelchair Sports. He joined a wheelchair football league and played every Saturday, rented a wheelchair and visited local fitness centers and worked out on their equipment with his chair and documented his struggles. Ryan wanted to feel the frustrations first hand and wanted to experience what they were going through. Once that was achieved, solutions could then be created.
Six months later, Ryan entered the design into the IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) competition. He was proud of The Access and wanted to see if it could compete. It ended up winning an IDEA Gold, The Best in Show, and People's Choice. It is the first time in award history that a project has won all 3 awards!
Since then, Ryan has been talking with many people in regards to bringing The Access to manufacturing. He wants to use the notoriety of the IDEA awards as a catalyst to help push The Access to reality. Ryan has received numerous emails and calls regarding The Access. Many wheelchair users and veterans have called, stating this is something they have been looking for for years now. It is patent pending and there are conversations in the works with possible partners to develop a prototype. The need is there, Ryan has the solution, he just needs to find an outlet to deliver the solution to the user. That is the next step.
LINKS
For more information, please contact:
Ryan Eder
t: +1 513 253 6043
e: ryan@ryaneder.com
Student: Ryan Eder
School: University of Cincinnati
Winner of IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) Gold, The Best in Show and People's Choice awards.
The Access is universal fitness equipment that accommodates all users, regardless of size, shape, mobility, or fitness experience. It was designed to address an ongoing issue within public fitness centers. Fitness is crucial to living a long and healthy life. Public fitness centers are placed all over the world to provide the public the opportunity to improve their health and stay active. Unfortunately, many of the machines in these centers exclude a crucial part of our society; a part that many people tend to overlook. Wheelchair users, geriatrics, and veterans of war own a substantial portion of our population, yet most of the available equipment does not provide for them. The Access does.
The Access is designed to be a machine that eliminates the need for dexterity. Many times, people struggle with pulling pins in and out to select their weight resistance. Some cannot move the articualting arms due to the amount of dexterity that is required to do so. All of the functions on standard machines have been simplified to mechanisms in which even the user with the most disadvantage, an incomplete quadriplegic, can workout on the machine independently. The Access is not a machine that excludes. Anyone can use it. It is not a machine that is meant for just wheelchair users, geriatrics, or veterans. It is meant for everyone from an elite athlete to someone who wants to loose there holiday weight.
The Access was developed as Ryan Eder's senior thesis while attending the University of Cincinnati. It was actually 3 years prior to that when he saw a man at a local fitness center come up in a wheelchair to work out. He observed from a distance, curious as to how the man was going to manage to use the provided equipment. He had a bag full of homemade accessories that he customized just to help him accommodate to the machines. You could see how frustrating it would be to workout at a center that was not built with you in mind. At this point, Ryan felt there had to be a better way. 3 years after, it was time for his senior thesis. It was a 10 week project. He designed this equipment with the extreme user in mind: The incomplete quadriplegic. By designing for the extreme, Ryan can develop a machine that all can benefit from. He worked closely with paraplegics and quadriplegics on a daily basis. He researched with The Lakeshore Foundation, which is an organisation that trains the paralympic athletes. Ryan also worked with other organisations such as BlazeSports and Ohio Wheelchair Sports. He joined a wheelchair football league and played every Saturday, rented a wheelchair and visited local fitness centers and worked out on their equipment with his chair and documented his struggles. Ryan wanted to feel the frustrations first hand and wanted to experience what they were going through. Once that was achieved, solutions could then be created.
Six months later, Ryan entered the design into the IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) competition. He was proud of The Access and wanted to see if it could compete. It ended up winning an IDEA Gold, The Best in Show, and People's Choice. It is the first time in award history that a project has won all 3 awards!
Since then, Ryan has been talking with many people in regards to bringing The Access to manufacturing. He wants to use the notoriety of the IDEA awards as a catalyst to help push The Access to reality. Ryan has received numerous emails and calls regarding The Access. Many wheelchair users and veterans have called, stating this is something they have been looking for for years now. It is patent pending and there are conversations in the works with possible partners to develop a prototype. The need is there, Ryan has the solution, he just needs to find an outlet to deliver the solution to the user. That is the next step.
LINKS
- Businessweek news
- University of Cincinnati news
- Discovery Channel news
- Article on the Access in Design for All, a publication of Design for All Institute of India. (PDF - 364 KB)
For more information, please contact:
Ryan Eder
t: +1 513 253 6043
e: ryan@ryaneder.com