User:Anniej5/sandbox

Ralf Hotchkiss did not only invent the Whirlwind Wheelchair, he was an inventor from an early age. At the age of 15, Hotchkiss had a few blind friends in high school. He would hear stories about how they would trip over curbs or elevated surfaces because their seeing-eye-dogs would not warn them or because their cane was not long enough to reach the ground. Because of this, he was intrigued to invent a device that would warn his friends that there was an upcoming curb. He used a transistor radio and a piano turner to create a miniature unit to go on the tip of a cane that would tick on tune over a regular surface. Using its sound waves, if the cane was over a surface, the ticks would change pitch, alerting the user of the cane that there was a curb or elevated surface within the length of the cane.

Hotchkiss went on to invent an additional pair of glasses for his blind friends. Within the glasses were auto focus cameras connected to speakers. If one was looking at an object close to them, there would be a beep in the right year. If one was looking at something far away, a beep would sound in your left ear. If an object was around ten feet away, there would be a beep in both ears.

This interest in mechanics lead Hotchkiss to open a wheelchair repair shop in Washington D.C. He was intrigued to learn more about wheelchairs and this lead him to do work in Northern Illinois to help local Universities become more accessible for all students. He spent his time working on developing curb cuts, which further sparked his interest in the Disability Rights Movement.