07 August 2015
Looking back in history there is plenty of evidence that it’s not always a case of putting your right foot forward! In fact the past seems to favour a left handed approach! Soldiers, even today, start marching on their left, knights jousted holding their lance in their left hand, whilst we in the UK defy convention and are only a handful of countries that drive on the right!
For most of us ‘righties’ we rarely think twice as we grab tin openers or use scissors that these simple daily tasks might cause those with a left hand dominance problems. Whilst only 10 per cent of the world’s population favours using their left hand, it is nevertheless an important consideration in terms of design.
Design engineers like GX spend their working lives devising innovative solutions for practical products. Part of the design process includes thinking about the end user and the product’s practical application.
“Most of the products that we design for the medical and scientific sectors have ambidextrous controls to alleviate the problems associated with a left handed person having to use right handed controls,” notes head of design, Gary Ross. “The life science sector in particular has made great progress to ensure that surgeons and ultrasound operatives are not disadvantaged by a left handed dominance by using GX to develop suitable training aids.
“Several years ago we developed a compact Laparoscopy training simulator to help surgeons practice minimally invasive surgical procedures; this encourages students to use both hands to conduct the operation. Whilst our highly successful design for a transvaginal scanner has been instrumental in helping those involved with obstetrics and gynaecology issues become proficient at scanning.”