Ryan O’Rourke, Anna Gurevich, Jon Pedersen
Although many products exist to help people with grip impairments handle everyday objects, the market for electronic plugs remains underserved – the few products that aid in plug gripping are either too expensive or are only pitched as project ideas in the public domain.
To that end, our team explored the creation of an aftermarket part to facilitate the plugging and unplugging of various electronic cords into their respective outlets. Finding current market offerings to be extremely limited or impractical, we sketched and prototyped a series of products to attach to cords. We experimented with a design that could be fitted precisely onto an iPhone charging cable or USB cord, along with a design that could be universally attached to any common household cord. Our final prototype is a universal design, and can be easily attached to many shapes of cords through Zip Ties. Its handle is designed to help someone with grip impairment plug and unplug cords, and it costs much less than $1 to make.