ICFF: Carry-na Makes Walking Easy and Stylish

The Takano HeartWorks Company from Japan didn’t have a flashy booth at the ICFF or a big sign. They didn’t even have press kits. Instead they let the power of good design of their products promote themselves. The company brought several of their innovative Carry-na walking assistance devices. The Carry-na is a recent winner of a Good Design Award by the Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization. While we hope you get a sense of how functional these are from the photos, we also want to say it is really cool to see in person. Product specialist Katsumi Takeno brought people passing by to a stop when he demonstrated how the walker works.

The Carry-na could be described as a mobility aid to make walking easier. It is essentially made of two components, a handle and a pair of legs with wheels. But it simply, and rather magically transforms between three different uses. First, with the legs extended and the handle angled back, the Carry-na is in walker mode. The handle can telescope up or down to match the users height. There are also dual brake levers for control and simple locking clips to stabilize the walker.

Second, with a press of the foot pedal, the handle folds up vertically and a seat flips down. The handle serves as a backrest for users wanting to take a rest.

One more press of the foot pedal and the legs fold vertically for storage. A really clever bit of engineering is the way the front of the leg becomes the foot the Carry-ha rests on.

We spent a lot of time walking the show floor at Javits the past few days and honestly we were tempted many time to go ask Katsumi if we could borrow a Carry-na to finish off our walk.