Oftentimes the topic of disability in science-fiction is ignored, especially in far-future settings. In my experience, when questions like "how are disabled people in your world treated?" or "what is having a disability in this world like?" are brought up to sci-fi authors, worldbuilders and other kinds of creators, most will give a kind of hand-wavy response. "Disability doesn't exist in my world," many will say, or "medicine is so advanced, it's not really an issue anymore, and if it is, technology basically makes them not disabled anymore anyway"
in other words "I haven't thought about this in any depth and I don't really want to."
That probably came off a bit harsh but as a disabled creator myself, I see this kind of thing a lot and sometimes I just want to see cool stories about people like me, without having that part of their identity stripped away. Because for many disabled folks, especially those of us who grew up with our disabilities, it is a part of our identities.
I won't go into the irony of the fact many creators who use these responses to questions about disability, do actually have disabled characters in their works but never acknowledge it beyond "look at this character's cool robot hand!" honestly, if I did, that could be an article all of its own.
Instead, I want to show how I'm handling disability in my comic, and some of the assistive technology I've designed for one character in particular. Xari.
I've made multiple posts showing off the art I've done for Xari already; they're part of an alien race known as the Kepek, and they're also a bilateral leg amputee. Today I want to put a spotlight on their assistive tech, as I spent much more time than I'd like to admit designing some of it.
Xari's Prosthetics
The main form of assistive technology Xari uses is their prosthetic legs. It took me a surprisingly long time to figure out exactly how to get prosthetics to even work for them since the Kepek's anatomy would have made prosthetic legs particularly uncomfortable should they use socket prosthetics (the ones used by most modern amputees today) and osseointegration prosthetics (that being prosthetics implanted directly into the bone of the user) would also not be possible with our modern version of the process. This is because the bones in the Kepek leg curve and osseointegration requires the bone to be straight for the implant to have a study enough anchor.
But this is the far future, and I didn't want Xari to have to deal with the issues that come with a socket prosthetic, so I decided that, while in humans, osseointergration prosthetics are usually anchored to the bone using an implanted metal rod, the Kepek may have figured out another way to do it. I imagine they might use a synthetic material that is flexible at first, but becomes solid and strong like metal once it sets. Or possibly they just teleport a pre-bent metal rod into position in the bone. Out of the two, the second is more likely, since Kepek use teleportation technology for a variety of things, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine a procedure like that being the standard.
Now for Xari's actual prosthetics and what they look like! This was the fun part.
I'm planning for Xari to have 4 sets, and for them to use them all at some point in the comic.
standard legs
These are the legs Xari has been wearing in pretty much all of the artwork I've done of them so far. There's not a lot to say about these ones, the joints are all mechanical, but powered by robotics - basically a more advanced version of modern above-knee prosthetics, with inspiration drawn from real-life prosthetic knees like the C-Leg, Kenevo and the Genium X3 .
Initially, I was planning to give Xari robotic feet as well that more closely resembled Kepek's natural feet. However, as a bilateral amputee myself, I've always personally preferred the appearance of the prosthetic feet without the foot shells on them (which is the part that makes it look like an actual foot). It's also a bit of a pet peeve of mine that futuristic prosthetics always go for something that very closely resembles a real foot, even if it would not add any beneficial functionality. So I opted to go with something a bit simpler, a simple blade while maintaining a movable, robotic ankle joint. I imagine that Xari did have an outer shell for the feet once upon a time, but they took it off long ago and very likely lost it.
Mag-lev Legs
Xari's next set of prosthetics are what they refer to as their mag-lev legs. These prosthetics have a much sleeker, streamlined design, but their most notable feature is the joints. Instead of mechanical joints like the previous pair, the mag-lev legs' joints are held in place using, well, magnets. The joints rotate and move in similar ways to the mechanical leg by moving the magnets internally, creating the illusion that the joints are functioning like normal joints. While aesthetically eye-catching, these legs don't have the same functionality as Xari's standard legs, and it is difficult to do things like run or jump in them. They can also be temperamental and are vulnerable to interference from other strong magnetic forces (and can cause interference for things with weaker magnetic forces).
Xari refers to these as their "fancy legs" and doesn't usually wear them except on special or formal occasions (something Xari doesn't attend a whole lot of). The only exception to this is when Xari wants to cause mischief. If one knows how to manually move the magnets around, the joints can be put into strange and bizarre positions, something Xari will occasionally do went they want to mess with their nieces and nephew.
Stubbies
Stubbies are a real type of prosthetic that exist today and are often used to help bilateral amputees get used to prosthetics, as the low centre of gravity and simplicity of the prosthetic make it easier to learn with. But they are also frequently used by bilateral amputees well beyond this point. Their lack of moving parts means they are very sturdy and not as likely to break, and the low centre of gravity can be very helpful for getting over rough terrain.
I imagine Xari keeping a pair of stubbies as a backup, should all their other prosthetics and mobility aids fail. the lack of movable parts and low centre of gravity may also come in handy, should Xari visit any plants with strong gravity, something their other prosthetics aren't designed to be able to tolerate.
0-G Legs
Xari's last legs are the only ones that do not attach directly to the implant in their stump. Instead, these legs are designed to be worn over the top of Xari's spacesuit and a series of magnets on the outside of the spacesuit and straps help to hold them in place. These legs are not designed to be walked on, and offer very little support to the stump when trying to do so, which is why, when using them in locations with gravity, Xari will often support themself on their crutches. Instead, these legs are designed to be used in 0-gravity or very low gravity environments. Most Kepek space suits have small jets located in the shoes, which allow them to propel themselves through space. Since Xari's spacesuit doesn't have shoes, this feature was instead put inside the prosthetic feet.
Xari's Wheelchair
While Xari uses their prosthetics unsupported most of the time, they also have a few other options, including a wheelchair. Those of you who follow me on Tik Tok may remember the videos I made while designing the chair. Xari spends a lot of the comic travelling through space, and so I wanted their wheelchair's design to be usable in environments with both higher and lower gravity. After doing a bit of research of my own, I took to Tik Tok to get some insight from people who hopefully knew more about space and physics than I did.
Click for the Transcript
I got some really good suggestions there, and after that, I got to work on the design. The comic itself is going to be in 2D (similar to the style in the image above) but I wanted to make sure I got the proportions correct and that it would actually be able to work in the way I wanted, so I ended up finalising the design in Blender, with this being the finished product.
The design I went with enables the chair to adjust to different environmental conditions, allowing it to "transform" to meet the user's needs. pieces like the primary wheels (large wheels) and the front castors and footplate can all be adjusted, shifting the centre of gravity to improve stability or maneuverability as needed. The primary wheels also have adjustable camber (how much they tilt out to the sides). Other parts, like the footplate and anti-tip wheels, are also removable to allow for even greater maneuverability and to make it easier to use in compact spaces. When folded out, like in the picture on the left, I initially imagined the chair could be pushed using levers. I realised later though that this wouldn't work well, so I instead gave the chair a "powered mode" where it can be controlled using a holographic control pad, similar to the physical controls on a modern power chair (I, unfortunately, don't have any artwork depicting this yet). This ended up working out for the best anyway though, as pushing a manual wheelchair on a planet with heavy gravity would likely be very difficult, and at the more extreme end of the spectrum, probably impossible, so the powered mode would be useful in this regard too.
In the video below, I give an overview of the chair's design and features and demonstrate what it looks like in motion.
Click for the Transcript
One thing I didn't get time to mention in the videos themselves, was where Xari's tail would sit while using the chair. As Xari does have full use of their tail, I figured they may choose to use it to help balance the chair when doing wheelies or even to help propel themself, especially on steep hills, but I placed a bar at the back of their wheelchair's backrest that Xari could rest their tail on. I forgot to show the back of the chair in the previous video though and didn't explain anything about it, so one viewer was understandably concerned about the potential oversight, leading me to make a third video on the topic explaining these points.
Click for The Transcript
Holo-band
One piece of assistive tech that Xari has comes in the form of a piece of jewellery called a holo-band. These are very very common in Kepek society, most Kepek have one and they function similar to a mobile phone and a smart-watch combined into a single device. The holo-band is like a bracelet that has a holographic display built-in. On their own, they're handy little devices that feel like an evolution of a smart-watch, but for kepek with disabilities, especially those who have a large number of assistive tech devices, they act as a sort of central hub.
For devices like the wheelchair, which uses a holographic display for adjustment settings and to control the chair in motorised mode, the controls can be displayed on the holo-band's holographic display, allowing them to be more easily moved to be more comfortable for the user.
This is already something seen in a lot of the higher-end assistive tech devices, particularly in prosthetics. The most recent versions of the Ottobok C-Leg (and I believe the Genium as well) for example can be synced with a smartphone and have settings that can be adjusted via an app.
But the holo-band's biggest benefit is that it acts as the control panel for a system of short-range teleporters. Any devices synchronised with it can be teleported to the user's location. Meaning if Xari was using their prosthetics, but grew tired after a few hours of walking, they could teleport their wheelchair or crutches to themself, and teleport them away again once they're rested. Xari's prosthetics have all been synced with their band as well, meaning that Xari can teleport their prosthetics to themself and switch them out on the go at any time. The external part of the implant works as a beacon for the prosthetics, so they will be teleported into place, removing the sometimes finicky process of putting a prosthetic on. When sent away, any teleported device will return to a designated "home" station (which in Xari's case is located inside their house).
Only one of the prosthetics Xari owns isn't compatible with the holo-band's teleporters, and that is the 0-G legs due to the fact they do not connect to the implant directly. As a result, Xari usually keeps their 0-G legs somewhere in or around their ship so they don't misplace them.
Conclusion
While many elements of Xari's disability is made significantly easier by technology than they would be for modern amputees, none of it erases their disability. They're still an amputee and that affects the way they interact with the world (or in their case, galaxy), but I also wanted to explore what being disabled would be like in a futuristic society that doesn't see disability and mobility aids as an inherently bad thing. I also love a good excuse to play around with different assistive tech ideas and designs and am looking forward to sharing Xari's story.
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