There's a guy in my neighborhood who has a kind of Segway wheelchair, a gyro-balanced two-wheeler with a seat. It can't do stairs (unless he has some Dalek jets I haven't yet seen), but it fits into a lot of places a regular wheelchair can't.
For those who can't afford or even find such a device, the WHILL might be the next best thing. It's an electric-assist add-on for your existing manual-drive wheelchair, shown off in prototype form at this year's Tokyo Motor Show.
The WHILL consists of two hubs containing 24 volt motors which fit over the wheels of any chair. They are joined together by an arching beam which also detects the occupant's movements: steering is done by leaning in the direction you want to go. It also gives the motors themselves something to push against.
Right now it's still a little bulky, and it makes a wheelchair look as hard to get out of as one of those kids' playground swings with the "safety" bar attachment. But aftermarket add-ons like this could be a boon to wheelchair users, especially as they'd be (presumably) cheaper than my neighbor's custom sit-on Segway.
WHILL project page [WHILL via Gizmag and Gizmodo]
