Honda Loves Lazy People
Eight years after the launch of the Segway, Honda has answerd, because they too love lazy people. Meet the U3-X.
It comes in at a little over a foot long, over 2 feet tall and just under 5 lbs. This machine is lightweight and compact.
From Honda’s Press Release:
Pursuing the concept of “harmony with people” Honda has developed a new personal mobility technology and unveiled U3-X, a compact experimental device that fits comfortably between the rider’s legs, to provide free movement in all directions just as in human walking – forward, backward, side-to-side, and diagonally. Honda will continue research and development of the device including experiments in a real-world environment to verify the practicality of the device.
Honda has gone in a different direction giving us more of a wheelchair than Segway’s scooter. It too runs on all sorts of gyroscopes and magnets, but is based more upon a unicycle model. It handles steering through a series of smaller wheels that make up the bigger one. It leads to a sideways crab-walk form of movement that will not make for a good slalom run. But once you watch the video it will make more sense and will not be the hindrance that it seems while reading a description of it.
I have to admit that it looks cooler, sleaker, and more fun than the segway, plus it will transform the office environment. I can just picture the “Wipe your wheels before you enter” signs now.