Description of Project:
I completed this project for a technical writing course I took during my Summer 2017. In this course we were mixed with students from other disciplines. I was in a team with an English major and a Physical Therapy major while I was a Computer Science major. The project was to come up with an idea that would combine all of our disciplines and provide a solution to a problem. We decided to provide training on the proper way to use a wheelchair and how difficult it could be to move around in one.
My Design:
My other two partners were working on pamphlets with instructions on how to use the wheelchair. I wanted to incorporate something more exciting that I could accomplish from my discipline. Therefore, I decided to work on a design of an actual place where we could offer this training. I shared my idea with my partners and they accepted my proposal and so I began to work on it. I searched online for 3D design softwares and came across SketchUp. I built an arena where people could come and go through a brief training where they would learn the proper ways of using a wheelchair then they would phase an obstacle course they would have to complete riding a wheelchair. This way they could get the real experience of moving around in a wheelchair. In the design above, you see a lobby which is the main entrance where people sign the appropriate paperwork. Then they go into the green room shown below where they will be trained with the pamphlets my team members completed. If people weren’t interested in going through the obstacle course there was a second floor above the lobby where they could observe others as they go through the course. The obstacle course include every day challenges: stairs, ramps, bumps and narrow turns.
