Interview Rolling Dance Chair Project Founder Merry Lynn Morris

Tampa Bay Community Network interviewed Merry Lynn Morris in depth for the "Culture Vultures" art program hosted by Linda Saul-Sena.

They discussed the many outgrowths and inspirations for the Rolling Dance Chair Project which Merry Lynn founded from 2004. Also mentioned is the VSA of Florida week-long dance workshops and performances October 14 - 17, 2015 with an evening performance Friday 10-16-2015 8PM USF Theatre 2, Merry Lynn Morris, Artistic Director. Here is the link for the VSA Florida event:  http://vsafl.org/new-definition-dance-international-mixed-ability-showcase-and-educational-initiative

http://youtu.be/VLA61ia6Bwc

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity in appearing on your show Linda Saul-Sena and to all at Tampa Bay Community Network!

With Love and Best to all, Merry Lynn Morris

Dance Chair Innovation - Patent Receives International Notice

USF Dance Professor Merry Lynn Morris invented a wheelchair  that allows people to express themselves through movements such as dancing.
{Jim Reed - Photographer Tampa Tribune Staff - Copyright 2011}
http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-news/2011/jul/30/menewso1-usf-gains-international-notice-for-record-ar-247333/

Recently, the Dance Chair with Merry Lynn Morris was featured by Channel 8 & also made the front page of the Tampa Tribune.  The above link is the News Article link with Photos & the Video link. The News Video from Tampa Tribune Video is embedded below.  We are very grateful for the notice & the continuing publicity on our project!  The following is a selected excerpt from the full article which can be found at:  http://www2.tbo.com/news/education-news/2011/jul/30/menewso1-usf-gains-international-notice-for-record-ar-247333/ 

http://www2.tbo.com/news/2011/aug/09/1/usf-patents-reflect-studentsx2019-inn-76341-vi-23646/

{Selected Excerpt from Tampa Tribune Article - Published / Copyright 7/30/2011}

Six years ago, University of South Florida dance professor Merry Lynn Morris approached a couple of engineering professors with an idea.

How can you make a wheelchair move more like a human?

Today, Morris and six former USF engineering students hold a patent on her idea. It's one of 83 last year that put the school at No. 9 among universities worldwide earning U.S. patents.

"It's a huge validation of the work you do, which can take years," Morris said.

The ranking comes from the Intellectual Property Owners Association's annual list of the Top 300 U.S. patent recipients in the world. IBM had the most for 2010, with 5,866.

USF was one of 14 universities on the list. The University of California Regents led that pack, with 349 patents.

"We've really worked to change the culture here," said USF's Paul Sanberg, holder of about 30 U.S. patents, including the first for using cord blood and bone marrow for stem cells used in brain repair.

Two years ago, Sanberg launched the National Academy of Inventors at USF, to recognize patent-holders and their work.

Patenting is a key step in turning a discovery into something people can use, Sanberg said. But the process hasn't traditionally been part of universities' academic mission.

That's changing.

"Universities are having to become more focused on real-world economics, so you're seeing more of them trying to take advantage of their intellectual property," he said.

With its 83, USF received more than twice as many patents last year as it did three years ago.

The 2010 patent list shows a breadth of inventions, from wheelchairs for disabled dancers to new ways to test the acidy of seawater to a self-guided roller coaster ride.

Morris had been rolling her idea over in her mind for years before she visited College of Engineering professors...

Her father was disabled in a car accident when she was 12, and Morris helped take care of him, so she was intimately familiar with the limits of life in a wheelchair. Some were societal, but many existed because of the chair's clunky design.

Always a dancer, Morris began to envision a chair that would allow someone to express themselves through movement, freeing hands and arms from having to push a wheel or joystick.

The USF engineers were intrigued. So in 2006, {her project} was assigned to several students to work with Morris. It took about a year to develop a working prototype. In June 2008, USF filed for the patent, which came through last summer.

The invention is a system that uses sensors on the seat that tell the chair to move forward, backward or sideways with small upper-body shifts.

Morris knew the discovery process would be a challenge, but she had no idea of how legalistic it would get, she said.

In the end, though, that process was useful.

"You have to put everything on paper and show what role this person played and what role that person played. You have to be really clear."

Those credits really matter when the invention gets to where the dance chair is now, with a potential manufacturer showing interest.

The patent belongs to USF, which filed the application, but as one of the listed inventors, Morris would share any income from product sales, as would the six others named in the application.

Right now, Morris is focused not so much on sales but getting the chairs to people who could use them.

She's been corresponding with a woman who has a disabled child and started a dance studio to help her. She's also working with injured war veterans.

As Morris and the engineers find further refinements, they're likely to get more patents.

SKY FLY VERTICAL Take-off/Landing ULTRALight Aircraft Invention by Mark Rumsey

This incredible flying invention is by a friend of Merry Lynn Morris - MARK RUMSEY - who worked with her on the design of the Hands-Free Wheelchair Invention several years ago. You really have to see this to believe it! (3min.)This is certainly an inspiration and exciting to imagine as we hope to see this really fly for Mark! Recently, Mark is re-evaluating all the specs from the thousands of interested fans, pilots, & engineers who commented and want to be a part.  But, the obvious enthusiasm is there - and that will not stop now!  For more info & Mark's Bio, etc., here is his website: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1894175451/skyfly-vertical-takeoff-and-landing-ultralight-air?ref=email

Best to you, Mark!
Sonshine & Merry Lynn

Art / Museum Tours in Hands-Free Chairs

We put together this video for a conference on Art & Museum accessibility for disabled ....a LEAD Conference in Minneapolis (Leadership Exchange in Arts & Disability). The patent on our chair just was fully approved. More upgrades are in the works.

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This video shows a hands-free model as one could tour an art gallery, work on a computer station or otherwise utilize (disabled or not) ..... a sit-down / hands-free "work" chair which mimics human hovering & natural (weight pulling) interaction with others. The options are really as endless as our imagination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1QfOiqonFo or http://www.twitvid.com/JZ3IC

{NOTE: The Honda video below is only as a comparative industry - one by Japanese innovation ..... they also see touring an art gallery as a possibility & example! Their engineering uses the Segway-type inner gyroscope mechanism which we originally experimented with & still do. It uses a wheel-within-a-wheel approach .... & allows for omni-direction as well the side-to-side motion we are trying to achieve for people of diverse body types and/or abilities seated rather than balancing.}

http://youtu.be/cuIJRsAuCHQ
It is very coincidental that we have video on some of our Museum tours ..... on some "hands-free""chairs.... with our unique chair design.... utilizing two dancers as models for the chairs. Although I am thrilled & thank the Lord for the Honda innovation!!! PTL! to get the mobility awareness & innovation out!..... Our dancers, models, & just regular folk... are sure a lot more comfortable!! I will be sharing these videos with everyone soon.

Love in our Lord,
His Sonshine & Merry Lynn

Merry Lynn Morris CNN Interview Dance Chair Honors Dad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQaYyjgGjBg or http://www.twitvid.com/KBXD1

Merry Lynn Morris Dancing Wheelchair Flying!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqqxzXKmPM4 or http://www.twitvid.com/DTZJF or http://www.twitvid.com/RPS54

This is an ongoing project from the Rolling Dance Chair Project initiated 10 years ago by Merry Lynn Morris from the inspiration and honor of her Father who is disabled. His disability stems from a severe car accident where two 18 year-old boys crossed the center line and hit him head on. He was in a coma for two months and never expected to live. But, he did indeed... since the 1980's he has been disabled. Merry Lynn wanted to keep dancing with him as she had until she was 12 years old. I wanted to have greater access to him and wanted freedom in mobility and interaction. Together we tinkered with over 6 wheelchairs... and then some! Finally, the project started officially in 2005, and continues in mostly research at USF at http://rdc.arts.usf.edu/

There has been so much publicity and wonderful news coverage.... including CNN http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FQaYyjgGjBg! For the latest Dance Chair prototype upgrade coverage as of 10/2013 see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LvstaT920Rs .  It has truly been an answer to prayers for us with so much encouragement and inspiration ... PRAISE GOD! May the project, the disability, and our inspiration continue to encourage others in the same way we have been... our continuing prayer!

Morris Family