SAN JOSE, Calif. – Among the exhibitors at this new Abilities Expo venue was a new ultralightweight wheelchair manufacturer whose emphasis is adjustability.
Icon Wheelchairs, according to co-founder Jeff Adams, launched in October, so the consumer-focused San Jose event was one of the company’s first official appearances.
The company’s flagship is the Icon A1, billed as “the world’s first premium, fully adjustable wheelchair.” Literature on the A1 notes, “Its 11 independently adjustable components can be easily modified, ensuring the chair is always comfortable, always efficient and always fits.”
While greeting visitors to the Icon booth in San Jose, Adams noted that a wheelchair user’s need for adjustability can be nearly constant, caused by factors as major as a change in medical condition or function, or as everyday as needing to fit under tables of different heights, or switching seat cushions of varying heights.
The Icon A1’s adjustability in seat width, depth and seat angle are designed to be easily changeable, Adams said, with many adjustments able to be dialed in as the user sits in the chair.
That wide range of adjustability is also intended to reduce the need to custom build each A1, thus reducing the elapsed time between ordering a chair and shipping it.
The A1’s good looks and unique design – the frame and seating are vaguely reminiscent of an upscale Herman Miller chair – were recently profiled in Azure, a design magazine based in Toronto.
Adams and co-founder Christian Bagg – who holds multiple adaptive mobility patents for product design – said they are currently seeking American suppliers to work with. Their Northampton, Mass., offices can be reached at (888) 461-5759, or visit Icon online: www.iconwheelchairs.com.
