Fresno, CA and Nashville, TN – November 15, 2022
Officials with LUCI and Sunrise Medical®, a world leader in advanced assistive mobility solutions, announced today that LUCI’s state-of-the-art safety technology system is now compatible with Sunrise Medical’s popular ZIPPIE line of pediatric power chairs. This announcement marks the first time LUCI is available to install on a narrow base power chair with pediatric seating, the ZIPPIE Q300 M Mini.
Earlier this month, the two companies announced an agreement that allows patients within the Veterans Health Administration (VA) the option to install LUCI on their QUICKIE® power wheelchairs as they’re built at the Sunrise Medical factory. With this announcement, LUCI and Sunrise Medical are expanding their collaboration to another important group – pediatric drivers.
The LUCI safety system offers unprecedented driver-assist safety features such as drop-off prevention, collision avoidance and care team alerts. LUCI’s hardware/software platform combines inputs from cameras, ultrasonics, and radar into a single, 360-degree view of the world, to help users avoid dangers while maintaining personalized driving control. Additionally, through its cloud-based capabilities, LUCI can also monitor and alert users and caregivers to low battery, possible tipping scenarios, and other important updates regarding the chair and the user.
“As a parent, I know from personal experience how important independent mobility can be for a child’s development, but I also know how stressful and potentially unsafe power mobility can be, especially for younger drivers,” said Barry Dean, LUCI co-founder and CEO. “Making the move to a pediatric solution has been a primary focus for our team since before we even launched LUCI. We’re especially excited for what this partnership means for parents and clinicians who were previously on the fence about offering power mobility to a child, and we couldn’t be happier to have Sunrise Medical become the first manufacturer to recognize this potential and offer this powerful combination to pediatric riders.”
ZIPPIE launched its first pediatric power chair, the P500, 30 years ago in 1992. Since that time, the ZIPPIE line of wheelchairs has become one of the most popular and beloved product offerings in the pediatric CRT space.
“The individuals and families who rely on ZIPPIE for pediatric mobility know that we at Sunrise Medical are constantly innovating and looking for breakthrough technologies to improve the lives of the people in our chairs,” said Larry Jackson, President of Sunrise Medical North America. “By expanding our relationship with LUCI to include the ZIPPIE line of power chairs, we are signaling our belief that safe, independent power mobility is a gap in the pediatric market that can finally be properly addressed.”
About Sunrise Medical:
Committed to improving people’s lives, Sunrise Medical is a world leader in the innovation, manufacture and distribution of advanced assistive mobility devices and solutions. Distributed in more than 130 countries under its own 17 proprietary brands, the key products include manual and power wheelchairs, e-mobility products, motorized scooters, seating and positioning systems, and daily living aids. Operating in 18 countries, Sunrise Medical group is headquartered in Malsch, Germany and employs over 2,200 associates worldwide. Learn more at: SunriseMedical.com.
About LUCI:
Based in Nashville, with R&D headquarters in Denver, LUCI was founded by Barry and Jered Dean, brothers who were driven to innovate from personal experience, and committed to creating change for people living with disabilities. LUCI’s industry accolades include TIME’s Best Inventions of 2020, Popular Science’s “Best of What’s New,” a CES Award of 2020, and Mobility Management’s “Smart Technology” Product Award. Learn more at: LUCI.com.
For additional information about this press release, please contact:
LUCI
Ellis Metz
emetz@jarrardinc.com
865-805-0090
Sunrise Medical
David Algood
david.algood@sunmed.com
800-333-4000
