Wheelchair by Permobil, model F3 Corpus

Made:
2016
maker:
Permobil
modifier:
Stephen Hawking
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Stephen Hawking Estate/Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Stephen Hawking Estate/Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Stephen Hawking Estate/Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Stephen Hawking Estate/Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

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© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Permobil wheelchair with spares and accessories, made by Permobil and modified by Stephen Hawking.

The Stephen Hawking's Office collection includes a broad sample of his mobility and communications equipment. These items were not originally stored in the office. Over the past two decades, as these items were decommissioned, they were collected by the Stephen Hawking Archive at Cambridge University. The one exception among these items were Stephen's first generation comminications equipment, which were originally lent to the Science Museum and have become part of the permanent collection, having been on display since 1999.

The wheelchairs in the collection are an almost complehensive sample from the last three decades of his life, and were not just mobility devices. They were fitted with custom-built computers and related electronics that facilitated Stephen's interaction with the world. Up until the 1990s,, Stephen could operate the wheelchair himself with his hand, and he operated his communications devices and computers with hand clickers. Later on, as his hand movements diminished, together with his graduate assistants he tried out other mechanisms, eventually settling with an infrared detector reading the movement off his cheek. This was the system he used for the last decade and a half of his life. By that point, the wheelchairs were controlled by his assistants.

The communications technologies on the wheelchair were a combination of commercial products, customizations provided by his own graduate assistants, and later on, with the help of teams provided by Intel Corporation. The computers themselves were provided by Intel since the late 1990s; they were standard PCs in custom encasements for carrying along with the wheelchair.

Details

Category:
Stephen Hawking Office
Collection:
Stephen Hawking’s Office
Object Number:
2021-561/19
Materials:
textile, plastic (unidentified), metal (unknown), paper (fibre product), glass, steel (metal), cardboard, shell and polyethylene (polythene)
type:
wheelchair
credit:
Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the Estate of Stephen Hawking and allocated to the Science Museum, 2021

Parts

Wheelchair with Communication System

Hawking kept up his ambitious schedule of scientific work, public appearances and international travel while living with motor neurone disease, a condition that affects the nerves and brain. To do so he was supported by technical innovations and a team of colleagues.

Jonathan Wood, Hawking’s technical assistant, notes that this was far more than a wheelchair – it was Hawking’s mobile office and communication system, and carried ventilation support to help him breathe. On the back you can see the black box for Hawking’s voice synthesiser.

The communications equipment, interfaces with computers, and mobility control alternations are in-house by Hawking's team. Different components of this set-up have been subsequently labelled.

Measurements:
overall: 1285 mm x 660 mm x 1420 mm, 157 kg
Materials:
textile , plastic (unidentified) and metal (unknown)
Object Number:
2021-561/19/1
type:
wheelchair
Image ©
The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum