A smooth, concave trough along the rims of Attila Domos' wheelchair relieves the pressure on his thumbs and helps him conquer the city's tough hills during his daily workouts.
Developing ergonomic technologies like this -- and more sophisticated robotics systems to help the elderly and people with disabilities live independently and productively -- will be the goal of the new Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center run by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.
"To me, any advancement in this type of technology is a good thing," said Domos, 38, of Squirrel Hill, a composer whose legs were paralyzed more than a decade ago in a fall.
The research center, announced Monday, will be funded by a five-year, $15 million award from the National Science Foundation secured with the help of a $500,000 seed grant from the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse.
It will be headed by world-renowned CMU robotics and computer-vision expert Takeo Kanade and Rory Cooper, an accomplished wheelchair athlete who heads the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at Pitt.
"(The center's) mission is to spawn innovative technologies that will enable older adults, who now comprise roughly 12 percent of the nation's population, as well as the 60 million Americans with disabilities, to prolong, preserve and improve the quality of their lives," Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said. "I don't know what could be a more noble mission."
Initially, the center will create 10 to 15 new jobs in Pittsburgh and will be housed in various laboratories at Pitt and CMU.
But Kanade and Cooper hope to consolidate their efforts soon into a single building in Oakland.
They expect products developed by the center to spawn commercial spin-offs that bring more jobs and revenue to the region, and plan to collaborate with companies such as IBM and Johnson & Johnson to license the technologies they create.
Quality-of-life technologies expand the benefits of assistive technologies such as wheelchairs, walkers and prosthetics by combining them with computers, robotics and other intelligent systems.
Technologies developed by the center could include: handheld data-recording devices that prompt people with failing memory to keep an appointment or take their medication; electronic sensors that help monitor the health and behavior of people living alone and allow them to call for assistance; and "smart" wheelchairs with sensors to help users navigate and avoid injury.
Such solutions could help reduce health-care and assisted-living costs, increase the employability of people with disabilities and allow users to participate more fully in society, the researchers said.
"This should improve lives for all of us," Cooper said. "All of us are aging. All of us will likely have disabilities as we age. And all of us are affected by disabilities through family members or members of our community."
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