Russian Inventors to Complete World's First-Ever Autopilot Wheelchair in a Year

The groundbreaking device called "Clever Chair", which is expected to make the life of people with disabilities easier, will cost some $200.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — People with disabilities using the Clever Chair autopilot wheelchair system will find their quality of life greatly improved, a Russian tech scientist who is developing the wheelchair system said Wednesday.

"We see a future in which people with this device will feel more comfortable than those who have no need for it," Valery Spiridonov said at a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya press center.

He cited an example of a person going to a supermarket and needing time to find the necessary goods, whereas people using his device would be directed to the required products thanks to the data uploaded by the retail chain.

The groundbreaking technology is now in the development phase, as it still is short of $52,000 in funding (3.5 million Russian rubles), but it could be finished within 12 months.

"It should be affordable for our target audience, and we need to remember they are not rich, so the final device will cost about $200," Spiridonov said.

According to Spiridonov, about 50 percent of the device's components are manufactured in Russia.

Spiridonov is himself confined to a wheelchair and suffers from Werdnig-Hoffman disease — rare muscle-wasting disorder. He is first came to public attention when he agreed to become Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero's patient for the first ever human head transplant.