Japan doesn’t rely solely on robots to cope with its dramatically ageing society (over 20% of Japanese people are older than 60) but also develops down-to-earth type of technology to support elderly and handicapped people.

Tokyo-based Universal Design has developed the Universal Lifter, a nursing care bath chair that uses water pressure to smoothly lift a person in and out of the bath. The main selling point of the device is that it doesn’t need electricity but can rather rotate 360 degrees using water pressure (2 atm) from the faucet.

Universal Design says its lifter is very quiet, economical (1-2 cents per use) and suitable for all people weighing up to 80kg.

Via DigInfo