A Preliminary Study on Effectiveness of an Ingeniously Developed Wearable Assistive Device

Villagers, in the Northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, use large handmade baskets, for the conveyance of their daily needs of household goods and agriculture supplies, uphill and downhill on a regular basis. A low-cost wearable assistive device is developed, to assist the population in the state's mountainous villages to carry the loaded baskets. This paper explores the load distribution pattern and the effect on the human posture on using the wearable device. The preliminary study findings reveals that utilization of the assistive device ensues in notable improvement in the load distribution pattern on the load-carrier's torso and on the posture while carrying the loaded baskets.