In this article, Maisie Leyland explores the progress the IP industry has made in advancing diversity and inclusion over the years.
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There are currently estimated to be 2.5 billion people globally1 who need at least one assistive device, whether that be for use at home, in the workplace, or in everyday life. This number is expected to reach 3.5 billion by 2050 as populations age, and yet only approximately 1 in 10 people currently have access to the assistive products they need2.
The surging need for assistive technologies, alongside legislation such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities codifying people’s rights to access them, has in recent years led to a boom in patenting activity in this sector. The number of filings in emerging assistive technology is growing almost three times faster than conventional assistive technology, with a 17% average annual growth rate compared to 6%2.
Many of these technologies are adopted with the aim of creating a more accessible world for all, allowing those with disabilities to walk, see, hear, or communicate where they might otherwise not be able to. With the advent of computers many assistive technology sectors have seen advancement and innovation like never before, with many assistive features being integrated into our everyday lives. Some examples include inbuilt smartphone features like screen magnification, voice control, or text-to-speech. But how have assistive technologies changed over the course of history to arrive at where we are today, and where will the innovations of the future take us?
Assistive devices of the past
Assistive devices have existed for centuries. Whether it be evidence of wheelchair-type furniture in ancient Greece and China3, prosthetic limbs of wood, leather and bronze in ancient Egypt and Rome4, or walking canes found in Tutankhamun’s tomb5, we can see that roots of assistive technology throughout the ancient world!
Over the centuries, developments in assistive technologies were often slow and almost always pushed forward by those with disabilities themselves. For example, despite the best documented early example of a wheelchair being created in 1595 for King Phillip of Spain3, the first documented self-propelled wheelchair wasn’t invented for another 60 years until Germany’s Stephan Farfler, a paraplegic clockmaker, invented his own chair in 1655, employing a hand crank and gear array to work the three-wheeled frame3.
Similarly, in 1824, 15-year-old Louis Braille, who was blinded at age three after an accident in his father’s workshop, invented a six-dot system for written words and later even musical notation6. He published this system, now known as Braille, in his 1829 book “Method of Writing Words, Music, and Plain Songs by Means of Dots, for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them”6. Braille is often considered to be the real beginning of assistive technology and has had considerable longevity. About a century after its invention, Braille was adapted to Typewriting machines, as seen in patent application US 1718694A filed in 1925 by Elliott Fisher Company, and is still used almost another century on, one example being self-scrolling braille devices invented for interactive reading as in Eurica Califorrniaa’s patent US 11145223B2 granted in 2021.
20th century developments
The beginning of the 20th century was one of the largest periods of growth in assistive technology development as 300,000 newly disabled soldiers returned from WWI and WWII, bringing the issue of accessibility to the forefront of the public’s mind.
Over this period, many new assistive devices and technologies were invented, such as is illustrated in Alfred Charles Adams’ patent application GB119536A filed in 1917 for improvements in or connected with artificial limbs and Radio Corporation of America’s patent application US2615992A filed in 1949 to an early version of an optical character recognition (OCR) machine designed to read text aloud to blind people.
As the 20th century continued, the rights of disabled people were fiercely campaigned for, achieving some elements of accessible design becoming standard – such as dropped curbs, which were trialled in Norwich for the first time in the 1960s11. In 1963, Selwyn Goldsmith, the primary advocate for trialling these curbs and prevalent architect, published his book “Designing for the Disabled” in which he advocated for buildings to be designed ensuring accessibility for people with all types of disability11.
Adapting the environment to the people within it has been a revolutionary principle and one which has been carried forward with the creation of smart home inventions such as refrigerators, air conditioners and heating which can be controlled by a head movement (CN105022280A), smart lighting systems (US10873997B2), and even voice-operated garbage bins which can move towards the user when they call (CN109748004A).
Other areas of assistive technology have also improved significantly over the last century. Hearing aids, for example, over the last century have reduced from bulky models using vacuum tubes to amplify sound, such as in Earl C Hanson’s patent application US1343717A filed in 1919 to a “Telephone Apparatus for the Deaf”, which were themselves improvements over the bulky ear trumpet, to lightweight models after the emergence of the transistor in the 1950s, resulting in modern day cochlear implants, inner ear implants, and even bone conducting hearing aids.
Given the rapid advances of technology through the 20th and 21st centuries, it is no surprise that there have been similar advances in assistive devices. However, as we continue to innovate it does beg the question: what’s next for assistive technology?
Assistive technology of the future
Innovators have often taken inspiration from science fiction films and books, and those working on assistive technology are no different15. Many major developing technologies seem almost as if they were taken directly from an Asimov novel with robot assistants, or star trek with visual prostheses, or even the marvel universe with exoskeletons like those in the Iron Man films.
In fact, in 2022 Elena García Armada won the European Inventor Award16 for developing a robotic exoskeleton for children in wheelchairs (EP3225363B1). The exoskeleton would allow children to walk in rehabilitation therapy to avoid muscle wasting, improve wellbeing, extend life expectancy, and potentially benefit 17 million children worldwide16. With lower-body, upper-body, and full-body exoskeletons in development, many people with mobility-based disabilities stand to benefit in the next decades, gaining independence and support in their day-to-day lives.
For those with a need for vision assistive technology, a wide range of devices are currently in development, from inter-ocular lenses (IOLs) which adapt focus based on the distance of an object from the user’s eye as detected by ultrasonic sensors imbedded within (US20190282399A1), to cortical implants which aim to bridge the gap for those with damage to neural pathways transmitting information from the eyes to the brain, which make up nearly 10% of patent filings in the visual assistive technology sector2. These inventions alongside visual prostheses (US10105263B2) continue to close the gap to sci-fi technologies like the VISOR used in Star Trek (1987) which allowed a blind crew member to see.
When it comes to assistive robots, humanoid shapes have become a common staple of the field, like many a robot assistant seen in the worlds of Star Wars, such as medicine dispensing robots which verify both the user and which medicine to give (CN108190483B), or robots designed to help with bathing (CN105054847B). Some other less humanoid robots are also in development, like the home assistive robot for the deaf and hard of hearing pictured below, which uses sound recognition units to analyse sounds and display text alarm messages, along with the ability to translate both recorded speech and sign language into text on the screen (KR102740909B1).
From ancient walking canes and hand cranked wheelchairs to robotic exoskeletons and intelligent home environments, the evolution of assistive technology reflects centuries of human ingenuity, resilience, and the pursuit of independence. What began with simple mechanical aids has transformed into a rapidly expanding field at the cutting edge of innovation. As patent activity accelerates and global awareness of accessibility grows, the next generation of assistive technologies promises to empower more people than ever before, enhancing mobility, communication, and quality of life. The future of assistive technology is not just about creating new tools but about creating a more inclusive world.
References:
[1] World Health Organization (2024). Assistive Technology. [online] Who.int. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology [Accessed 21 Oct. 2025]
[3] Nias, K. (2019). History of the Wheelchair. [online] Science Museum Blog. Available at: https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/history-of-the-wheelchair/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2025].
[4] NIH (2023). Prosthetics through the ages. [online] NIH MedlinePlus Magazine. Available at: https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/article/prosthetics-through-the-ages [Accessed 10 Oct. 2025]
[5] Morris, A.F. (2019). Let That Be Your Last Battlefield: Tutankhamun and Disability. ATHENS JOURNAL OF HISTORY, 6(1), pp.53–72. doi: https://doi.org/10.30958/ajhis.6-1-3.
[6] Geidy, L. (2009). Bicentenary of Louis Braille – The world at our fingertips. WIPO Magazine. [online] 3 Jun. Available at: Bicentenary of Louis Braille – The world at our fingertips. [Accessed 10 Oct. 2025].
[7] US 1718694A – Typewriting Machine for the Blind
[8] US 11145223B2 – Self Scrolling Braille Machine
[9] GB119536A – Improvements in or connected with Artificial Limbs
[10] US2615992A – Apparatus for indicia recognition
[11] Historic England (2011). Nowhere out of Bounds – Disability Access and Adaptation. [online] Historicengland.org.uk. Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1945-to-the-present-day/disability-access-and-adaptation/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2025]
[12] CN105022280A – Household apparatus suitable for the disabled that has no hands
[13] US 10873997B2 – Voice controlled AI smart lighting
[14] CN109748004A – Smart garbage bin
[15] Bennett, D. (2017). Scientific eventuality or science fiction: The future of people with different abilities. Futures, [online] 87, pp.83–90. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.07.003.
[16] European Patent Office. (n.d.). Elena García Armada | epo.org. [online] Available at: https://www.epo.org/en/news-events/european-inventor-award/meet-the-finalists/elena-garcia-armada [Accessed 13 Oct. 2025]
[16] EP322563B1 – Exoskeletons for Assisting Human Movement
[17] US10105263B2 – Visual Prosthesis
[18] CN108190483B – Medicine Dispensing Robot
[19] CN105054847B – Bath robot
[20] KR102740909B1 – Robot for the deaf and hard of hearing