Hank Chen

"Several manufacturers have already expressed interest in our technology," said Hank Chen, a designer at Taichung-based Cycling and Health Tech Industry.

Famous for its bicycle designs, Cycling and Health had added several products into its portfolio including a prototype of the world's first interactive wheelchair-treadmill, added Neo Chu, another designer.

"There are so many improvements that we can do on the conventional wheelchair," said Chen."I thought, 'Why not turn it into an exerciser?' So we constructed a durable platform with rotating steel pipes to create our 'treadmill.'"

Chen then built a dual mode sensor with four-direction and speed controls into the wheelchair, and even wirelessly hooked it up to a computer.Users could also control the "weight" of the wheels by adjusting their linear magnetic resistance.

"Exercise need not be boring," he said."I figured that wheelchair-bound people would exercise more and build up the muscles in their arms and upper torso if they had something fun to do while working out.Playing computer games is one of them."

Instead of using joysticks, individuals on the wheelchair-treadmill could play computer games by simply spinning their wheels.A virtual car race, the game that Chen featured at yesterday's show, even required riders to "swerve" or turn to avoid roadblocks and jams.

"Playing this computer game while exercising serves a dual purpose," said Chen.