The five finalists in the three-year Mobility Unlimited Challenge have been unveiled at CES in Las Vegas. The Toyota Mobility Foundation launched the $4 million global challenge in 2017 in partnership with Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre, with the aim of improving the lives of millions of people with lower-limb paralysis.

The five finalists are:

- The Evowalk: Evolution Devices (United States) - a smart wearable leg sleeve that helps people with partial lower limb paralysis regain their mobility.

-Moby: Italdesign (Italy) - an integrated network of wheel-on powered devices, allowing users of manual wheelchairs the convenience and benefits of a powered chair, accessible via an app-based share scheme.

-Phoenix Ai Ultralight Wheelchair: Phoenix Instinct (United Kingdom) - an ultra-lightweight, self-balancing, intelligent wheelchair which eliminates painful vibrations.

-Qolo (Quality of Life with Locomotion): Team Qolo, University of Tsukuba (Japan) - a mobile exoskeleton on wheels, allowing users to sit or stand with ease.

-Quix: IHMC & MYOLYN (United States) - a highly mobile, powered exoskeleton offering fast, stable and agile upright mobility.

The Challenge invited engineers, innovators, and designers from across the world to submit designs for game-changing technologies, incorporating intelligent systems, to improve the mobility and independence of people with lower-limb paralysis. Central to the Challenge is the importance of collaboration with end-users to develop devices which will integrate seamlessly into users’ lives and environments, while being comfortable and easy to use, enabling greater independence and increased participation in daily life.

89up coordinated global communications around the announcement of the five finalists, securing coverage in titles including Forbes, BBC News Online, CNET, Techradar, Engadget, MSN UK, La Repubblica, Estadao, La Vangaurdia, Folha de S.Paulo, Wired Italy, Design Week