FutureXi Media: Innovation Series

Smart Mobility Chairs Are Moving Beyond the Joystick

By: Chris Lah, January 20, 2026

A wheelchair is not merely a device. It is freedom of movement, access to work, connection, and the ability to participate in community life. That is why the new generation of smart mobility technology deserves close attention.

At CES 2026, Strutt introduced its ev¹ smart mobility chair, which uses sensors, algorithms, and voice interaction to help users navigate their environments. The company says its Co-Pilot technology is designed to recognize obstacles, adjust movement, and reduce bumps and collisions.

The significance is not that a chair can “drive itself.” It is that navigation support may reduce some of the daily friction that comes with moving through crowded rooms, uneven paths, narrow doorways, and unfamiliar public spaces.

Still, smart mobility must be designed with user agency at its center. Automation should assist a person’s decisions, not override them. It must also work reliably in the messy environments where people actually live—not only under ideal demo conditions.

CES 2026 showed a growing appetite for intelligent mobility. The opportunity now is to ensure that these systems are safe, repairable, accessible, and shaped by wheelchair users themselves.

NaviCane Shows Why Better Navigation Is a Civil-Access Issue

By: Chris Lah, January 23, 2026

For people who are blind or have low vision, moving independently through an unfamiliar environment can require constant interpretation: surface changes, elevation, obstacles, and the unpredictable behavior of a city street.

NaviCane, a CES 2026 Innovation Award honoree, is designed to support that navigation through multi-sensor detection, edge AI, and tactile interaction. The company says the cane can assess terrain height, surface texture, and hazards that may not be immediately apparent.

The promise of technology like this is not just convenience. It is access—to work, education, recreation, health care, and spontaneous trips that many people take for granted.

But a smart cane also raises important questions. Who can afford it? How well does it work in rain, snow, crowds, or construction zones? Is it usable without a complicated app? Does it complement established orientation and mobility practices rather than attempt to replace them?

Those questions should not diminish the innovation. They should define its success. CES 2026 reinforced that accessibility technology is most meaningful when it expands choice and confidence in the real world.

The Most Important Health-Tech Innovation May Be Better Coordination, Not Another Gadget

By:Chris Lah, March 24, 2026

CES is built around products. But the deeper health-tech story at CES 2026 was not about any one device. It was about the need to connect the pieces.

A smart watch may identify a change in sleep. A voice companion may note that a person has missed medication reminders. A smart bathroom device may detect a shift in hydration or routine. A mobility system may reveal that a user is having more difficulty getting around their home.

Individually, those signals may be limited. Together, and interpreted appropriately, they could help a person, caregiver, or clinician see a fuller picture.

That is the promise of connected health: not surveillance, and not a flood of disconnected data, but better coordination around the person’s actual life.

For someone aging at home, health does not exist in separate categories. Mobility affects social connection. Sleep can affect memory. Medication routines affect energy and confidence. A fall risk may be influenced by a home layout, a new prescription, vision changes, or a period of inactivity. The health system, however, is often fragmented, with information scattered among specialists, family members, devices, and care settings.

Technology could help close some of those gaps. But interoperability, consent, and usability will be essential. A product that cannot share information securely with other systems has limited value. A dashboard that overwhelms a caregiver can create new burdens. And a system that collects data without providing clear, actionable next steps may simply create more noise.

The people most affected by these systems should also be part of designing them. Older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, direct-care workers, clinicians, and community organizations all understand challenges that may not be obvious from a product development meeting.

CES 2026 brought together a wave of health technologies aimed at prevention, independence, cognitive support, mobility, and care at home. The next breakthrough will not necessarily be the device with the most sensors or the most impressive AI demo.

It may be the technology that helps the right person receive the right information at the right time, while preserving choice, privacy, and dignity.