Health in the future: iPhone-synced wheelchair

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The iPortal is an iPhone application that allows wheelchair drivers to remotely control their iPhones via the wheelchair's navigation and manage their chair's features.

The New Zealand-based company Dynamic Controls developed the iPortal to work seamlessly with Dynamic Controls DX2, DX or Shark wheelchair control systems.

The application also includes a dashboard that monitors your chair's battery status, speed, seat/head adjustment and orientation plus offers a one touch emergency contact.

iPortal is available throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and North America. The application is presently free via iTunes and is normally priced at $100/€74.

See how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LaSlk5M148

Perhaps in the future the smartphones will also work to remotely control the chair's movement.

The application will be showcased October 6-9 at Rehacare 2010, an international trade fair and congress devoted to special needs, rehab and care in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Also there is still time to "vote for the winner of Pimp my Wheelchair II." To select one of five panelists (Globetrotter, Hell on wheels, Blazing, BBQ and Dark) by September 30, visit: http://bit.ly/9kmpbH