WHILL Model Ci | The Power Wheelchair of the Future

[@Invisiblenotbroken]

This is the third video on Whill that I have seen with able body people testing it. Just saying if you have someone who uses a chair they would have different questions and concerns.

[@mattnoahchannel]

I rented one in late February 2019 in San Francisco. It worked great on carpet at the hotel, all around Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz and then everywhere on the Stanford campus. It's biggest test was at Alcatraz where the hills are fairly steep. It had no problem. It probably would have issues going up Lombard street but I never tested that. I live in the Midwest in a very flat State. It will do fine there although during our heavy snowfalls it would probably fail miserably but then, so would a hand-powered wheelchair. I purchased one and it should arrive April 29.

[@BUENDIAYBUENASNOCHES]

Rented it for how long and how much?

[@mztracyr]

I have a Quantum Q6 which I absolutely love. I wish though before I’d gotten so bad you guys would’ve had this out because I definitely would’ve tried to get one. Are you guys ever going to have a high back type of seating for it? I’m trying so hard to get better and at some point I would love to have a chair like this.

[@markstraff2990]

Hi. Thanks for your helpfull video. A question i have is: i will be traveling to places where there are high steps. How to lift the chair with me in. ? Is it possible

[@franklinelieh7787]

Would have liked to seen how it does on rugs and carpets, especially free standing rugs.

[@stuartjames6460]

Franklin, it's really quite good on rugs, including throws. If you live in the Bay Area feel free to visit TheCIL and take it for a test drive.

[@OptimusNiaa]

The front omni-wheels actually work better than caster wheels on freestanding rugs, at least in my experience. The twisting up of the rug that casters cause when changing direction doesn't happen with the omni-wheels.

[@ksmasterchif]

let me just sum this up for everyone... 5 hours wont last a day without charging at least once... not ideal... not even close... 10 miles is barely enough to get around an office setting unless your job has you tethered to a desk all day and that could be beneficial since it you could bring your charger cause youre gonna need it... no seat elevator means those of use (me) who are short cannot reach most things period... no tilt means those who need to reposition regularly cannot... no footrest elevator means that we cannot adjust our legs... no adjustments for the seat to speak of (that can be seen) means this is truly a 1 size fits none... its a stylish wheelchair thats gonna get looks and questions but nowhere near functional in the way someone with a true disability would need or want... ill just stick with my quantum ilevel and trubalance 3... i get 20-25 miles to the charge (depending on how much i use seat functions) and i can adjust my tilt when my back hurts and elevate my feet when my knees hurt... plus i can elevate the seat to do basic tasks that the designers of this chair take for granted like cooking... or being able to look someone in the eye... or reaching a lover to kiss them (anyone who says that they wouldnt mind bending over clearly has never been in the situation where they had to ask someone to do so... nothing kills a romantic mood more than saying "hey can you bend down so i can kiss you?") ilevel even makes it so i can dance with her... or bellying up to a bar as opposed to foreheading up to it...

[@AW-zv2to]

Brutal Chif you can buy spare battery’s

[@ksmasterchif]

@@AW-zv2to just run with me on this but if I'm in the wheelchair for a reason how do you propose I change the batteries???

[@GRIZFROST]

@@ksmasterchif I was literally about to reply with what that guy said, but then I thought about it for a second and realized "Hm. Yes. This is why able-bodied people need to shut the fuck up."

[@OptimusNiaa]

@@GRIZFROST The thing is, disabled people's needs and abilities vary from person to person. I was born with severely shortened, deformed, feet-less legs and a deformed hand-less right arm. So I'm definitely not able-bodied. And yet, the workaround of having a second battery would work just fine for me, as I can 1) turn around in the seat to swap it, or 2) hop out of the chair to swap it, or 3) ask someone near me to do it for me.

[@OptimusNiaa]

Indeed, going to some of the OP's original critiques, the same careful thinking applies. Some disabled people have more needs from a chair. No doubt the Ci wouldn't meet those needs. But neither would many other existing power chairs. Not every chair is designed to meet the same level of needs. To be honest, I doubt Whill would recommend the Ci for someone with increased needs. In other words, they're not suggesting you leave your Quantum for this.

[@nuryrojas1003]

donde puedo cotizar esta silla para importar u na a Chile

[@anthonyguada]

I am unable to stand, so how can I get this into my vehicle? Will my caregiver be running behind me? It would be better if my caregiver can stand on the back of this chair. Yes, I too would like to see a longer charge or run time between charging, Ten hours is useless I agree I would use this chair to take my young son to an amusement park, but with this short operating run time, I would not use this chair. This is not an inexpensive ride here in Montreal, Quebec is sold for over 5K

[@OptimusNiaa]

It's 10 miles per charge, not 10 hours.

[@ariesborja1029]

How much?

[@morgancalvi6675]

It was 2 grand...now it's over 6 grand..and it's NOT covered by insurance.

[@morgancalvi6675]

Seriously? Only 10 hours per charge? The width of the chair would never make it in small houses with tight doorways. Given the chair's headquarters are in San Francisco (capital of old homes), you'd think the designers would have considered this...and again...an able bodied person demonstrating a wheelchair? It just doesn't wash...and really, how is a quad with no hand function supposed to take that apart to load it in a car?

[@OptimusNiaa]

10 miles on a charge. Whill isn't suggesting a quadriplegic take it apart. But if a person who needs a wheelchair to get around has an able bodied friend with a decent size trunk, the friend could transport the Ci in his/her vehicle.

[@morgancalvi6675]

@@OptimusNiaa it used to be quite reasonable...now it's gone up like 4 grand. I would no longer consider it...maybe a Permobil F3 or F4 or F5. Who said anything about a quadriplegic taking it apart? Still...I stand by my original post..which you didn't address. You just posted to argue. San Francisco has very old houses...not very wide doorways at all...and hills galore...steep ones. I seriously doubt thie C1 would be able to climb the hills, which are ddefinitely more than 10˚ without tipping over...or losing power. People need to be independent today. When this chair came out...people helped each other. Let's say you drive a regular car and have other disabilities and with no real hand function. You'd not be able to take this apart. It is also horrible an able bodied person is demonstrating this. Still care to argue?

[@OptimusNiaa]

@@morgancalvi6675 "You posted to argue." Hello Morgan. I didn't post to be adversarial. I posted to question what appeared to be unwarranted assumptions. I believe clear thinking is important. I also don't think we need to jump to assigning motives to people with whom we are having conversations. It's current price is 4 grand. If it had gone up by 4 grand that would have made it originally free. You said something about a quadriplegic taking it apart. "how is a quad with no hand function supposed to take that apart to load it in a car" As far as narrow doors in San Fransisco, there are narrow doors in many places besides SF also. But there are many places in and out of SF with wide doors. This is a chair not just for people in San Fransisco. Of course if one has a house with very narrow doors, this or almost any other chair could be a problem. That is an obvious reality that should go without saying. Incidentally, the 16 inch seat version of the Ci has a total width of 21.5 inches. Granted that 10 degrees isn't very steep. (Of course, it's still twice the ADA requirement of 5 degrees max.) And so it will of course limit the sorts of terrain the Ci can handle. Also, for what it's worth, the Ci still functions at more than 10 degrees, though it does give a warning. At what point it actually tips depends on things like the weight of the occupant. But, without a doubt, max incline is something one must take into account. "Let's say you drive a regular car and have other disabilities and with no real hand function. You'd not be able to take this apart." - Again, no one is claiming otherwise. Certainly the disassembly feature of the chair is only a feature if one is able, or will be traveling with someone who is able, to disassemble it. I mean no offense, but that fact is obvious, and I don't see how them not saying it explicitly somehow counts as bad. I was born with severely deformed, feet-less, not-usable-for-walking legs and only one and a half arms. I've been disabled all my life. I don't at all see it as horrible that an abled-bodied person is demonstrating this. I realize there are a lot of abled-bodied people. And I have the intelligence to be able to watch an abled-bodied person demo a wheelchair and at least get some rough sense of whether it will work for me given my disability and the environments in which I would be using a chair. Also, as for them being headquartered in San Fransisco, this is a case where the person who wrote the copy for this video glossed over an important detail. The US headquarters is in SF (San Mateo, technically), but the company started in, and has its world headquarters, in Japan. The chair was designed by Japanese engineers.

[@morgancalvi6675]

@@OptimusNiaa I DID NOT POST to argue. I'm in Canada...the price here IS 6 grand. There was a miscommunication. it has nothing to do with argumentative or adversarial. I wonder why they do that with pricing though. Canadian taxes are 15% and the pay checques aren't that different than in the US. I do have to chuckle at how you obviously are offended by remarks though. Sorry about the birth defects...but how people feel about able bodied peole demonstrating non-able bbodied equipment, is Big Brother showing how things are GOING to happen. Live in a different country with more freedoms and you will see what I mean.

[@OptimusNiaa]

@@morgancalvi6675 I wasn't implying you posted to argue. You claimed that I did, and I was letting you know that I didn't. I then expanded on that, specifying that I'm not trying to be adversarial or argumentative. I was not making any claims about you, only myself. I'm not offended by your remarks. I was a philosophy instructor at the undergraduate level for a number of years. Exposure to and engagement with claims or arguments that one believes to be in error is at the heart of philosophy. I thus have experience in doing that and am definitely able to do so without being offended. It's surprising that at one time the Whill Ci was available in Canada for only 2k. "how people feel about able bodied peole demonstrating non-able bbodied equipment, is Big Brother showing how things are GOING to happen." - I don't follow you. Are you claiming that able-bodied people demonstrating mobility equipment constitutes them forcing disabled people to use that equipment? I suppose I can see how one might feel that way to a person if one reads into it what is not explicitly there. But as a matter of objective fact, it doesn't appear to actually be the case. An abled-bodied person showing me a chair doesn't constrain me, or anyone, to purchase or use it. Nor does it prevent other people, be they able-bodied or disabled, from developing competing but different mobility equipment. "Live in a different country with more freedoms and you will see what I mean." - It is my understanding that the USA, where I live, has more freedoms than Canada. I don't say that to gloat.

[@alanduboyce5779]

Have many paraplegics bought The WHILL Ci?

[@gagemiller1663]

Its a Tesla but in wheelchair form!!!

[@oceanpoet1]

use a disabled person. what an insult

[@wheelieblind]

More like the odd powerchair of the past that is not covered by medical insurance lol.

[@isaacjo91]

This is...a joke

[@OptimusNiaa]

I was born essentially without legs and only one and a half arms. I rented one of these on a recent trip to Orlando. Though a touch skeptical going in, I was quite pleased with it. It's certainly not as all-terrain-friendly as my Invacare M91, but for day-to-day use, for someone with my mobility needs,, it's far from a joke.

[@morgancalvi6675]

@@OptimusNiaa no, there is no support...if you have no core strength, it is not going to work for you. Besides, I really object to able bodied people demonstrating a wheelchair or anything someone in a wheelchair needs and uses because I truly feel they don't know about people that use wheelchairs...after all, they're mobile, right? It makes no difference if they used one before if they had a broken bone or something. Living Spinal is a wheelchair company with actual quads and paras selling stuff. They would know.

[@OptimusNiaa]

@@morgancalvi6675 I didn't claim that if a person has no core strength, the Ci would work for them. As for abled-bodied people selling chairs, it's important to note that this video isn't someone selling something. TheCIL is not the company that makes the chair, nor are they, unlike Living Spinal, a mobility equipment reseller. And while naturally an abled-bodied person is, all things equal, less likely to know the needs of individual disabled people, and so testimonials and reviews and demos from disabled people is a good thing, I just don't understand the notion of "objecting to" abled-bodied people selling/reviewing/demoing. One would hope both that 1) disabled people can watch demos and extrapolate whether they think the chair would work for them, and 2) disabled people would test out chairs for themselves before buying. And again, disabled people are different in their needs. I, for example, don't have the same needs as Quads and Paras.