Mass market furniture pieces have long been inaccessible to many disabled people, who have had to purchase specially adapted furniture styles at a significant price premium. Swedish furniture maker IKEA is seeking to change that with ThisAbles — a series of downloadable, 3D printed adaptations that are available free of charge.
IKEA’s ThisAbles product adaptors can be downloaded and printed using 3D printers, then installed to improve the accessibility and usability of IKEA’s furniture products. In recognition of the program’s innovation, ThisAbles won the Grand Prix for Health and Wellness at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.
OUR TAKE: Innovative tools like ThisAbles can generate accessibility at low cost, making accommodations for disabled people much easier to implement. IKEA’s approach to solving for accessibility is an example of innovation at work – an example that should be followed by other companies looking to expand their products’ utility.
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