Hoverchair

A hoverchair was an advanced version of the wheelchair that functioned through use of anti-gravity technology, as opposed to wheels.

A crewman present at a party aboard the USS Discovery made use of a wheelchair-like device. (DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

In the 32nd century, Aurellio was born with a genetic disorder that made it impossible for him to walk. Because of this, he used a hoverchair for locomotion. (DIS: "There Is A Tide...")

Background information[]

On Twitter, Ted Sullivan used the tag #hoverchair in relation to this character. [1] That term was previously also used in concept art for a wheelless chair for Melora Pazlar. Though the scene seemed to imply that the character was in the chair due to war-related events, "The Loss" seems to suggest that use of a wheelchair does not disqualify one from joining Starfleet.

Hoverchairs were apparently not a universal norm for Starfleet in this era, as during season two, the character used a more traditional wheelchair.

The wheelchair seen in "Melora" was initially to have utilized anti-grav technology. The chair from "Too Short A Season" was to be pulled out of storage and remodeled. However, the chair had originally been designed with the larger set of the USS Enterprise-D in mind and it was quickly realized that it would not be practical in the relatively small Deep Space 9 corridor sets. As a result, a simplified 20th century wheelchair was used instead. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, p. 108)