Honda is helping to provide comfort and joy to young hospital patients with “Shogo.”
It’s a ride-on electric vehicle designed by Honda engineers to help ease the stress and anxiety of children and their families by transporting young patients throughout their hospital stay.
Called “Project Courage,” and captured in a short film on YouTube, Honda says the initiative demonstrates the amazing impact that play and laughter can make in the life of a hospitalised child.
Shogo, based on a Japanese word and intended to mean “soaring into the future,” was built to focus on young patients, ages 4 through 9.
Kids can easily drive with power controls, manage the go/stop mechanism on the steering wheel, with adjustable speed of 1-8km/h that is controlled by a handler such as a nurse or caregiver.
Shogo also includes an IV pole holder and a push bar that offers caregivers the option to manually push the vehicle when needed.
There’s also a toy bucket in the front of the vehicle for items the child would like to bring along with them, cup holders, a centre horn with different sound options, and a customisable license plate slot to display the name of each rider.
Honda engineers worked hand-in-hand with the staff at Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC) to verify the feasibility of the concept.
This included testing Shogo on a dedicated course inside the company’s research and development facility designed to replicate a hospital hallway, with parents and children to ensure it was safe to operate when delivered to the hospital.
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