TiLite Celebrates 25th Anniversary
TiLite, Permobil’s brand of ultralightweight wheelchairs, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
TiLite wheelchairs, under the TiSport manufacturer name, went on sale in 1999. In 2014, the company was acquired by Permobil.
Permobil currently offers TiLite frames in aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber. TiLite chairs, known for their custom configurability, are available in pediatric and adult, folding and rigid styles.
Germany’s Sesame Street Introduces Elin, a Muppet in a Wheelchair
Elin the muppet is animated by a pair of puppeteers.
Sesamstraße, Germany’s version of the iconic children’s show Sesame Street, has introduced a muppet named Elin who uses an ultralightweight manual wheelchair.
Sesame Workshop, the organization behind Sesame Street and a range of other family resources, described Elin as a 7-year-old who is “self-confident, brave and quick witted,” with an affinity for technology and “making things.”
“I like sports, I like playing basketball, and I like skating in my awesome wheelchair,” Elin said in her introduction, for which she wore a basketball uniform.
If the chair looks a bit tall and wide for Elin’s size, that might be because one of the two puppeteers animating Elin sits underneath the chair’s seat, according to a story from German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
To facilitate mobility around TV sets, the wheelchair was 3D printed from lighter-than-metal plastic. And while other muppets typically ambulate invisibly, their legs not visible on camera, Elin places her hands — animated by the second puppeteer — on her chair’s handrims and moves them when she wants to roll.
Ricardo, pictured with daughter Rosita, could use a seating clinic appointment, judging from the fit of his wheelchair.
In the United States, Sesame Street, which made its debut in 1969, has an adult muppet, Ricardo, who began using a wheelchair after being injured during a military deployment. Ricardo is the father of Rosita, one of Sesame Street’s main muppet characters.