Mobilistrictor
Welcome: Thankyou for your interest in the Mobilistrictor Suit
Mobility Restricting Bodysuit : Third Age Suit
The Mobilistrictor is an empathy suit developed to simulate the effects of loss of mobility and declining sensory acuity, which can occur with the ageing process and also with certain clinical conditions, irrespective of age. These conditions could include degenerative disease or illness, post-surgical operation or accident and can lead to temporary or permanent disability of variable severity. Arthritis, for example, is a common condition that affects more than nine million people in the UK, of all ages.
The Mobilistrictor, Mobility Restricting Bodysuit : Third Age suit, was designed to help answer the question of how designers, who may be fully fit and active, really know if their designs work in practice for people with some loss of mobility or declining sensory perception. This understanding is of particular relevance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the current trend of a generally ageing population. Many people when they think about disability think wheelchairs or total blindness. According to DDA there are over eight million people affected by some form of impaired ability or other. How do designers consider their issues?
The suit is a tool to promote thinking and create insights into proposed designs or teaching methods or any other activities and is worn by the designer/teacher for a period of about one hour. They undertake a series of simple everyday activities and soon experience practical difficulties. People might then give consideration to their designs or methods (no liability can be attached to the Mobilistrictor for those designs or methods).
The suit has been used to successfully 'raise the awareness' about the issues confronting people with reduced mobility or sensory perceptions, and is a tool to stimulate thinking. It has potential for use in all areas of human activity be it design of products, buildings etc. or in education and training. The use of the suit does not replace advice from real people with experience of difficulties but is complementary to it and permits a better appreciation and personal understanding. Not only does the suit create an appreciation of the physical aspects of disability but also starts to create a better understanding of the mental aspects associated with loss of pride, self-esteem, frustration and independence. As things become more of an effort to do there also arises the appreciation of associated fatique, both mental and physical.
Mobilistrictor™ is a registered Trade Mark and Design
