Nordic Europe has always produced very distinct themes. When it comes to Scandinavian theme furniture, there is much more to the look than Ikea.

Scandinavian Theme Furniture

Scandinavian theme furniture is also known as Danish Theme or Scandinavian Modern. The theme was experimented with in the years before World War II to some degree, but it was the War itself that really gave it birth. The war crippled the manufacturing facilities in the Scandinavian countries, and created massive material shortages. Furniture makers were forced to look to the craftsman of the past, and to the local materials like oak, clay, and linen that were available. They also had been heavily influenced by the war in other ways. They were tired of fear and despair, and wanted to find a way to express their optimism for the future in a way that anticipated it while keeping just a hint of respect for the past. (more…)

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The invention of the wheelchair has made a great contribution to the lives of handicapped people. Wheelchairs provide mobility to people with restricted movement and because of this they allow disabled people a certain level of independence. There are two types of wheelchairs - the manual and the electric wheelchairs.

A manual wheelchair is propelled by the user by pushing the hand rims that are round steel tubes outside the wheels. Electric wheelchairs are heavier than manual wheelchairs because their frame needs to be strong and stable to hold the motor and battery.

The sophistication level of electric wheelchairs also varies extensively from a simple use of standard batteries with joy-stick controllers to microprocessor, robotic circuitry that allows the wheelchair to elevate on two wheels. Due to different sophistication levels of electric wheelchairs, their price varies widely, too. A manual wheelchair normally cost around $2000 to a whopping $30,000.

Currently, the most advanced and most sophisticated among electric wheelchairs is the iBOT. The iBOT wheelchair?s mobility mechanism can climb stairs, slide along gravel and can even elevate the chair for reaching high shelves. The mobility system can also function on either four wheels or two wheels making sure that the user is stabilized by self adjusting to balance the changes in the weight.

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