Hawking's hi-tech wheelchair to live on

died earlier this month aged 76.

According to 'The Sunday Times', the scientist's family hope that his wheelchair and voice systems could help preserve his memory and are open to offers from museums.

One of the ideas under consideration is for the Science Museum in London to commemorate Hawking's life with an exhibition featuring one of his two wheelchairs as a centrepiece, accompanied by recordings of his lectures.

Computer engineers had spent four years rebuilding the 33-year-old synthesiser that created Hawking's robotic tones after it was in danger of failing.

"We fixed the new system to his wheelchair on January 26," Peter Benie, a computing specialist at Cambridge University who co-led the project, told the newspaper.

"It was the same voice but much clearer. He was using it to talk with his family but he died before it could be heard in public. I would be happy to hear it used to repeat his lectures," he said.

The wheelchair, made in Sweden and capable of travelling 20 miles at 8mph on one charge, combined technology from around the world. Its computer, a Lenovo from China, used an American-made infrared sensor on his glasses to "read" his cheek movements.