ATU804 – EnhanSit with Matt Cavanaugh

Hi, this is Matt Cavanaugh and I’m the director of Customer Engagement of EnhanSit, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Hello and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana.

Welcome to episode 804 of Assistive Technology Update. It is scheduled to be released on October 23rd, 2026. On today’s show, we are super excited to welcome Matt Cavanaugh, director of customer engagement for EnhanSit. And he is here to tell us how this tool is able to change your favorite chair recliner into an adaptive chair. We’re joined by our friends from BridgingApps with an app worth mentioning. We also have a couple of stories about a new tool out there to be able to assist veterans, as well as an interview with a professor at Harvard on the future of artificial intelligence and assistive technology. We also have a quick story about a partner here in Indiana and a chance for them to be able to give out meta glasses to veterans who are low of vision.

Listeners, as always, we thank you so much for listening. If you ever have a question, a comment, or a suggestion for someone to have on our show, please do reach out. You can call our listener line at 317-721-7124 or shoot us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. We are also currently working on our full day training schedule for the new year. If you have a suggestion for something you’d like a very deep dive on, something that you think would make a really good full day training and maybe even suggestions of folks we can reach out to be parts of that training, please do reach out to our email address as well. If you ever do want to check out our full day training schedule, you can go to eastersealstech.com, click on our full day trainings and find those, but you can also find our archives of all the full day trainings we have done before. Again, we thank you so much for listening. Now let’s go ahead and get on with the show.

If you happen to have questions about assistive technology, we have Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions, or ATFAQ. The show is hosted by Brian Norton and features yours truly, along with Belva Smith, as we all talk about assistive technology with questions that come in from email, phone calls, and other means. We also don’t always know the answer, so it’s very important that we have listeners that can help us out with some of those questions because while we like to think every once in a while that we may know everything, we’re proven wrong almost daily on that one. So if you’re looking for more podcasts to listen to, or if you have questions about assistive technology, make sure to check out Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions wherever you get your podcasts.

Listeners, I had a friend of our program in this show, Joe Ricker, reach out to us about an exciting opportunity that he’s looking for folks to participate in. So Joe runs At Ease Orchard here in Indiana. Now At Ease Orchard is dedicated to supporting veterans through hands-on experiences in farming and beekeeping. They’re focused on giving back to fellow veterans as they transition back to civilian life. Well, Joe recently received brand new donated pairs of Meta glasses to distribute to veterans with visual barriers to live more independently. Individuals are eligible to receive a pair of the glasses if they are a US military veteran and if they experience significant visual impairment that interferes with daily living, including legal blindness or low vision.

Now this can include conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, ocular brain injury, stroke, and many other vision and eye conditions. So if you or someone you know is a veteran that experiences significant visual impairment, you can reach out to Joe at joericker@ateaseorchard.com for more information. I will also make sure to add his email address as well as a link to At Ease Orchard down in the show notes so that you can easily click on those and get ahold of Joe to find out more. But again, if you or someone you love is a veteran who also happens to be low vision, have a visual impairment, anything along those lines, and are interested in obtaining a pair of Meta glasses, please do reach out to Joe.

Speaking of veterans, I got a story here from the VA News and it’s titled Veterans Regain Hand Function Thanks to Adaptive Technology. This was written by Frederick Ulstrom. It talks about a device called Carbonhand. It says the Carbonhand is a smart grip strengthening glove designed to assist individuals with hand weakness caused by conditions like ALS, a spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or orthopedic injuries. It says Carbonhand was developed through an expanding partnership between local VA medical teams and the soft assistive technology developer Bioservo. It says that this partnership is really using a patient-centered kind of model. It says that it starts when a VA’s occupational therapist has a patient evaluation and conducts practical tests so they can do this either with their own or with a clinical specialist from Bioservo.

Once it’s prescribed, the device undergoes personalized fitting and digital calibration alongside the local therapist. It says that such things as maximum grip force, sensor responsiveness and palm sensitivity are tailored from custom profiles. This could be for tasks like holding a pen or carrying items, really just a lot of different things, but allowing especially for use of just one hand to do things like hold a water bottle or be able to take in the groceries, do different stuff like that. It says here that Carbonhand relies on a soft extra muscle approach. There’s a lightweight glove that’s embedded with artificial tendons and a sensitive palm with fingertip sensors that detects the user’s subtle intention to grip and instantly supply smooth proportional power to complete the movement.

And the story itself here actually tells the kind of experience of one veteran using this, some of the challenges they were having, and then how they were able to use the Carbonhand in order to be able to do some of the things that they really had a big challenge with before. I’ll put a link to the story over in the show notes so that you can really dig in and learn about this really great tool helping out our veterans.

Folks, our next story comes to us from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. This is an excerpt of an interview with Patrick Slade, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It’s titled, Can AI Make Wearable Technologies and Assistive Devices More Helpful: A Q&A with Professor Patrick Slade. Now I realize that focusing on a story about an interview before an interview seems a little bit odd, and I totally get that, but I do kind of like some of the things talked about here. It’s a pretty quick read and I will give you a link to it so that you can easily go and check it out yourself. What I like about it is it talks a little bit about just how artificial intelligence is able to maybe improve wearable technologies and assistive devices.

Professor Slade really gets into the specialization of the devices, of using artificial intelligence to make sure that the tool is going to work for the individual it is going to work for. So as we all know, assistive technology is not a one size fits all market in any way, shape or form. There’s no magic bullet, no amazing tool that’s able to help everyone all at once. Sometimes it’s many tools, sometimes it’s different tools for different folks, for different needs, all those different kind of things. But it gets into that a little bit here. So without going through every single question, every single answer and everything, I want to just kind of hit some of the highlights of where they really see these things kind of going.

Really, as I said, it really focuses on using these tools, be that artificial intelligence, wearable technology, assisted devices, everything else to make tools that work in harmony with a person, something that we make sure is helping out is assistive and not just creating another kind of barrier. And then really where it gets into the artificial intelligence part a lot is really in the data and making sure it’s getting good data of movement, of surroundings, of these kind of things, and then using the artificial intelligence machine learning in order to interpret that information to be able to make a device that’s able to really and truly assist someone.

So down here, and just one of the questions is, can you give examples of AI-powered assistive technologies in practice? The professor talks about an example is they’d been working with folks who had experienced a stroke, they use wearable sensors and AI to estimate the walking speed and the asymmetry between the paretic and the non-paretic legs, and then use that information to personalize a wearable robot and then use that information as well to just determine how the device would actually assist people. So really and truly, again, you’ve got an assistive wearable robot that can probably help with gait, with controlling falls and other things like that, but then you use these wearable sensors in order to get the information and make sure that thing can be tailored to help out the individual who actually needs it.

And then really the main thing that kind of drew me to this a long time ago, we had an interview talking about AI with someone and they really said where they saw AI going was that, “When I come up with my unique needs, my disability, whatever it might be, the device, the tool, whatever it is, would just automatically be able to adjust itself to me, to my needs.” So that’s kind of where this ends up. As you know, he’s asked, what is the future of AI powered wearable and assistive technologies? And he said within the next several years, people will be able to buy wearable devices that personalize themselves automatically using AI. So basically these tools will be assistive, able to help folks overcome different barriers they might have, but they’ll be able to adjust and change in order to help the person right there.

So I’ll put a link to the interview over in the show notes that you can go and check it out. It’s got some other things that they’re working on there at that school that might be of interest to some folks, but anyway, I’ll put a link so you can go check it out. And I guess, listeners, where do you see AI going as far as in the assistive technology space? Of course, we’ve got a lot of our interviews.

Folks are using AI in many different and very creative ways to create, use, and really just make all new assistive technologies. So where do you see? Go ahead and reach out and let us know. You can email us at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org and let us know your thoughts.

Listeners, next up on the show, we’re very excited to welcome back Ale Gonzalez from BridgingApps with an app worth mentioning.

This is Ale Gonzalez with BridgingApps, and this is an app worth mentioning. This week’s featured app is called PATH – Your Voice Assistant. PATH is a voice first assistant designed to help people who are blind or who have low vision get things done on their iPhone through natural conversation. Users can manage email, check and update their calendar, ask about the weather and news, and get answers to everyday questions all by using their voice. Our favorite feature is how naturally users can interact with the app. You do not have to memorize a list of commands. You can ask follow-up questions, correct yourself, or change your mind as the conversation continues. PATH also offers voiceover support, clear spoken feedback, and both voice only and voice plus text options. PATH – Your Voice Assistant, is currently available for iPhone and it is free to download. For more information on this app and others like it, visit www.bridgingapps.org.

Listeners, get up out of your chair for our next guest. Today we welcome Matt Cavanaugh from EnhanSit to the show to tell us about how this device is helping individuals turn their favorite recliners into lift chairs, and I am excited to learn more. Matt, welcome to the show.

Thanks, Josh. Happy to be here.

Yeah, I am excited to get into talking about EnhanSit, but before we do that, could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Yeah, sure. I spent more than a decade working across multiple industries in different roles before joining EnhanSit. I joined in 2023, so I’m currently the director of customer engagement here. We’re a Pennsylvania-based company, so we’re here in Northeastern PA, which is where we manufacture and ship every EnhanSit. It’s all US-based here, and we’re happily helping people all across the United States.

Awesome. We always love whenever we hear about homegrown things, helping out folks at home and everything. Well, I guess onto EnhanSit, I guess, Matt, I know you said you’ve been there since 2023, but take us back to the beginning, I guess. How long has EnhanSit been around?

Yeah, so I like to say we’re the best kept secret in the industry. It’s actually founded in 1993, believe it or not. So it’s been around for a long time. It was founded just based on a need. Our founder saw a hole in the market where lift chairs were expensive, sometimes uncomfortable, unless you really pay a lot of money for it. So he saw an opportunity for people who love their current recliner. They love their chair, they’ve had it for a long time, they want to be able to keep it, but they still want to have the independence and be able to stand up. And he developed this and we’ve been selling it domestically ever since.

Awesome, awesome. Well, and we’ve kind of alluded to it a little bit, but what is EnhanSit?

Yeah, it’s a universal electric lift frame. It’s made out of Pennsylvania steel, so it is built to last, and there is a lifetime warranty on the steel, so there’s no planned obsolescence like you see so often these days. It is built to last a long time, but it’s a lift frame that’s designed to attach directly to your existing recliner and help you convert it into a lift chair so that you can stand easily.

Nice. And Matt, without getting too technical, I guess, I think of recliners and I guess in my head I see pretty much one size, one shape, one kind. Are there certain recliners or are there certain specifications the recliner has to have in order for EnhanSit to work with it, or is it pretty broad?

Great question. The only requirement would just be that the side-to-side width of the base of the recliner is less than 28 inches. Other than that… And even so, somebody that’s technical would be able to. It’s a very dynamic and versatile design, but that’s the main requirement is if it’s less than 28 inches side to side, you should be able to make it fit. There’s lots of different kinds of bases and chairs, but it is designed to be fairly universal.

Nice. I know that’s important because I sit there and I think of my grandpa and how I’d have to wait for him to go do something just so I could sit in his chair. And I don’t know how long that chair lasted, but my gosh, I never remember another chair because it’s comfortable. It’s your chair. And like you said, I know sometimes going out and trying to get a lift chair can not only be expensive, but it doesn’t, I don’t want to say have the butt imprint that you’ve been working for years to make, but it doesn’t. It’s just not as comfortable or not the right kind.

Exactly. Exactly. So when you have that sentimental attachment to the chair you’ve had for so long, and like you said, the butt imprint that you worked hard to put there, it means something for them to be able to keep it and not have to give it up.

Yeah, definitely. So as we talk about EnhanSit and everything, what does setup and installation look like as far as getting it to work with my recliner?

It’s a fairly simple setup. So really the installation is just you tip the chair on its back, line up the EnhanSit with the base of the frame or the base of the chair, slide over either the U-bolts through the frame and secure it with nuts, or you would put a lag bolt into the base of the chair. Those are the two options. We include that hardware with the product. But, that’s it. It’s really just that simple. You just attach it at the bottom and then flip it back up and plug it in.

And just so everyone’s aware, because it is made out of steel, there is a little bit of heft to the product. It weighs 47 pounds in shipping weight. So we understand that our customers and clients may not be able to install it themselves always. There are obviously times where somebody’s not able to and they don’t have a loved one or somebody nearby that can do it. So we also offer an option for white glove installation. So we work with the customer there to set something up to have someone come and actually install that. We have a network of partners that’s able to come and install those units for the customers and help ease their mind on that because if they don’t have somebody that’s able to do it, they can still benefit from it.

Nice. Excellent. No, I love that you do offer that because yeah, a lot of times if I need the lift, I’m probably not going to be able to do a maneuver and I may not have someone there. So I like that option-

Exactly.

… is there if self-installation just isn’t possible.

Exactly. Exactly.

Matt, I guess I have to ask, how has EnhanSit changed or evolved over the years?

That’s a great question. So the original design remains pretty much intact. There are a little bit of modifications. There used to be two sizes. Now there’s just one size meant to be universal. But other than that, it’s kind of like a shark, it hasn’t had to evolve. And we don’t want to mess with something if it’s not broken. It’s a very great design. So we’ve kept it working all these years and we still have people actually out there that are still using it 33 years later. It’s still in operation, so we’re very happy and pleased with that.

No, that’s great. Yeah. When you make something good, make something to last, you don’t have to make very many changes over time.

Exactly.

Except for like you said, just go to the one kind of universal size, which just makes it so much easier for folks. They don’t want to have to think about those extra pieces and extra things.

Sure.

Matt, let’s say that I’m someone that this is going to help or a family member, something like that. Is there kind of payment assistance available or anything like that?

So we do offer the option to break it up into payments at checkout. So we do have that option. It is a product that falls under a Medicare code, so it would fall under E, as in echo, 0628. It would be eligible for reimbursement under Medicare or insurance. And the ultimate determination would be by Medicare or the insurance company. They would obviously have that decision.

Oh, definitely. But it’s nice that that option is out there for folks that it could assist that might need that.

Absolutely.

Matt, I’m sure you got plenty of these, but can you tell us a story of someone’s experience using EnhanSit and how it was able to help them out?

Sure. It’s funny, this is a funny story that was actually told to me by our founder, but it’s so universal. Different people obviously have different levels of needs, and we offer a wide range of open to close with the motor. So some people need a lot more help, some people not as much. Well, one of the first EnhanSits that actually went out the door, the founder delivered it himself because it was local. He brought it to the customer, and I think local news was covering it as well. They got it installed on the chair quickly, and the customer got it, sat down, put the thing up about four inches and stood up, and that was it. And everyone was like, “Are you sure? You don’t want to go up any higher?” And the guy was like, “That’s all I need. That’s all I wanted.” He was happy with it and thrilled. And it’s just funny how different people have different levels. But he was absolutely thrilled with it just because of that extra couple inches just to help him get up.

And sometimes it’s amazing, people think that you need something big or massive kind of change, but sometimes, like you said, it’s just those few inches make all the difference in the world in being able to get up and be mobile. And I guess to elaborate on that, what is the range of, if I’m using this word wrong, of lift, I guess, that you can get from EnhanSit?

So like I said, we offer a very, very wide range. I don’t have the full numbers in front of me. It’s a wide range. It tips up and forward to assist you to a standing position, but the vast majority of our customers actually only open it around 50 to 60% maximum. But different chairs have different centers of gravity, different people need different amounts of lift. So we offer as much as possible for even fringe cases, but most people open it about halfway and it’s more than enough to get them to a standing position.

No, that’s great. And I mean, especially as we all age, which we’re doing even as we’re talking right now, it’s great to have the options available as needs change. Or sometimes I might not need as much in the morning as I do in the evening to get me out. So that’s great that I can adjust and be able to use it a little bit differently.

Matt, just who all could benefit from EnhanSit?

Yeah. Anybody that’s trying to age in place, obviously that’s a key demographic for us, and it’s something that might make all the difference between somebody having to relocate to an assisted living facility or something like that, or being able to stay at home. And we understand that and appreciate that. But there’s also people that are recovering from surgery, have some kind of disability. So anybody that really has a little bit of trouble standing up or caregivers as well that are trying to help their loved ones or patients, it helps ease the burden on them and the strain of trying to help someone assist them to a standing position as well.

Oh, definitely. And I’m glad you brought that up because yeah, caregivers, family members, stuff like that, just helping somebody up can cause other injuries or things. So having all that assistance can definitely be a huge help.

Absolutely.

Matt, if our listeners want to find out more about EnhanSit, check it out and everything else, what’s a good way for them to do that?

Our website is www.liftmychair.com, and there’s as much information as possible on there. Anybody that is looking for more information or has any questions about it can obviously email us. Our email address is info@liftmychair.com or they can give us a call at 888-706-5536. And that information is also on the website and you can talk to somebody right here in Pennsylvania.

Nice. That is awesome. I love that there’s different options to be able to get the information because I’m sure folks will probably have some questions on, will this work on my chair? Is this the right kind of thing for me and how else it might be able to assist? But I love just a few kind of things that you really brought up about someone saw a need, was able to make something, and I love that it really hasn’t changed much, especially in… And I think you even mentioned planned obsolescence, but it seems like so many times you make something great, it works great, and then you kind of cut back on materials or the other things. So I love that it’s still made with steel coming right out of Pennsylvania and still able to help folks because the last thing you want, if you get used to such a tool that you use to get out of your chair and be able to get around independently, you sure as heck don’t want it to break on you.

Absolutely. Yeah, especially like you said, when you depend on it.

Yeah. Yep. It makes a huge difference. Well, Matt, thank you so much for coming on the show today, for telling us about EnhanSit, just all the great things it’s able to do to help folks be able to live independently. And well, I mean, just the task that sounds simple of getting up and out of your chair, but being able to make that so much easier for so many folks.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.

Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at 317-721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or shoot us a note on Twitter @INDATAProject. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation, or InTRAC. You can find out more about InTRAC at relayindiana.com. A special thanks to Nicole Prieto for scheduling our amazing guests and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the INDATA Project, Easterseals Crossroads, our supporting partners or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, and I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye.