The Phoenix i smart ultralightweight
wheelchair from Phoenix Instinct has
taken the top prize in Toyota’s Mobility
Unlimited Challenge.

In a global announcement on Dec. 17,
the United Kingdom-based manufacturer
was awarded $1 million U.S. to continue
developing the Phoenix i, a carbon-fiber-framed
chair that features front-wheel
power assist and a smart system that
automatically adjusts the chair’s center
of gravity for more efficient and safer
self-propulsion. The goal of the Mobility
Unlimited Challenge was to create “gamechanging
technologies to improve the
lives of people with lower-limb disability,”
according to the announcement from the
Toyota Mobility Foundation.

The Phoenix i was chosen over four
other finalists: the Evowalk smart wearable
simulator, which uses a smart system to
support muscles during walking to prevent
falls (Evolution Devices, United States); the
Qolo standing mobility device (University
of Tsukaba, Japan); the Quix highly mobile
walking exoskeleton (IHMC & MYOLYN,
United States); and Wheem-i, a wheel-on
ride-sharing device for people who use
wheelchairs (Italdesign, Italy).

The Mobility Unlimited Challenge
began in April 2018, when 10 innovators
were named Discovery Award winners and
given $50,000 U.S. each. In January 2019,
that group of 10 was narrowed to five finalists,
each of whom was given an additional
$500,000 U.S. to develop a prototype for
the final judging.

Phoenix Instinct’s founder and CEO,
Andrew Slorance, a wheelchair user since
sustaining a spinal cord injury at age 14,
was emotional as he accepted the award
and praised the work of the other finalists.

Slorance recalled his first wheelchair —
which he remembered as very large and bulky — and vowing to design a better one. In a press
conference following Phoenix Instinct’s win, Slorance
described the Phoenix i as “taking the proven and
updating it with smart technology.”

In a news announcement from Toyota, Slorance added,
“Winning the Toyota Mobility Unlimited Challenge is
incredible for Phoenix Instinct and for wheelchair users.
The wheelchair as we know it has been technologically
unchanged for decades. The funding we received
allowed us to prove smart technology makes for an
easier-to-use and safer wheelchair with the potential for a
suite of new features.”

The Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL)
at the University of Pittsburgh provided technical advice
to Mobility Unlimited Challenge competitors and also
hosted the judging panelists, who hailed from Australia,
Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United
Kingdom and the United States.

Slorance said he expects the Phoenix i wheelchair
to be ready for production in 18 to 24 months. One of
Phoenix Instinct’s priorities, at least at this early stage, is
to deliver a chair that’s comparable in price to existing
ultralightweight wheelchairs.