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The Honda Shogo entertains hospitalized children

Kids will surely be eager to take their turn driving this vehicle

The Honda Shogo will take some of the sting out of hospital confinement. PHOTO FROM HONDA

Being transported in a wheelchair can be stressful especially for sick children. The last thing you’ll want to give them is additional stress, so Honda engineers have collaborated with Children’s Health of Orange County Hospital to design a solution that should make the recovery process for young patients more enjoyable.

Meet the Honda Shogo, a small electric ride-on vehicle designed for users aged four to nine. This little runabout is designed to navigate hospital hallways at an enjoyable pace of 1.6-8 km/h, and can be remotely controlled by an adult operator.

Its pole can carry IV bags and a variety of medical equipment. PHOTO FROM HONDA

The child onboard can drive the vehicle independently with power controls and a stop/go mechanism on the steering wheel. There’s also a toy bucket in the front, cupholders, a horn with different sounds, and a customizable license plate. The Shogo also features soft-touch surfaces that are easy to clean, an IV pole holder, and a push bar should the operator decide to push the vehicle.

And if you think that this might be unsafe especially in hospital hallways, the engineers worked with the staff at CHOC Hospital to test the feasibility of this concept. It was evaluated in a dedicated course within the Honda’s R&D facility that was designed to mimic a hospital environment with actual children and parents.

Toys can be stowed in the front cubby. PHOTOS FROM HONDA

If you want to see the Shogo in action, you can check out a short film called Project Courage. Hopefully, this concept takes off and more hospitals around the world adopt something like it to bring joy to kids.



Sam Surla

Sam is the youngest member of our editorial team. And he is our managing editor (believe it or not). He specializes in photography and videography, but he also happens to like writing about cars a lot.



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