DreamNid's Hangout

The Electric Chair

I know I have already posted about the PopSCI Best of 2003 list, but I have to say that I actualy saw this neat contraption myself

Call it what you will, a wheelchair on steroids. What is soo cool about this wheel chair? Thanks to gyros, the Independence iBot 3000 has the ability to stand on the back two wheel, essentially making the user taller. The gyro will tell the computer how fast to move the wheels to keep the balance. Even if you push the chair very hard, it still manages to keep itself upright. If it detects that it cannot keep up, the wheelchair will automatically lower itself. I'm sure you know that wheelchair users always had trouble going up the stairs. No more. Yes, this chair can climb stairs. This invention comes from the same person who invented the Segway (aka Dean Kamen).

The prototype I saw at Disney had three wheels. They would not let anyone try it because the FDA didn't approve it at the time. But I suppose they will let the daring since the FDA did approve it last August. For a measely 29 grand, anybody could own this chair of marvel.

Posted by dreamnid at December 16, 2003 02:08 PM | TrackBack