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Honda U3-X: An ‘Indoor Segway’
Trending on Twitter, Watch Out, Segway; Honda’s New Personal Transit Device Could Be Next Big Thing:
It’s called the U3-X and most people think it looks like a space-age unicycle. And it’s actually fairly striking in its ability to move not just forward and backwards but sideways and diagonally, too.
Top speed is 3.7 mph, which for most people would be a power walking pace. The device moves in whatever direction its user leans towards.
The Brits are all over this… reports and more video from The Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and BBC.
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11 Responses to “Honda U3-X: An ‘Indoor Segway’”
A gimmick to replace walking. Not worth a lot of money.
Getting together with others for a hockey game, or a cross-country trail race, might be worth a fling.
Naaah….
I'd rather have a race Segway.
Just what every fat-ass needs, does it come with a cup holder?
With a 200 pound weight limit, no American will be able to use it.
Pee-cee US-bashing obesity myths and hype go nowhere. Not in our cities, not in our suburbs, not in cars, golf courses…
Meanwhile — I wonder if any stimulus money is being used for the PUMA.
(Does it have the power it needs to climb hills in San Francisco, carrying adults, not children or pets?)
http://www.segway.com/puma/
“does it come with a cup holder”
Or fishing pole holder…or CD or DVD player…
“I'd rather have a race Segway.”
Well, there's the PUMA, the techno-toy crowd's PC “answer” to the Evil Automobile.
http://www.segway.com/puma/
For indoor use, we already have scooters. Say, if everyone is expected to get these new unicycles, if not scooters, not just the mobility-impaired but everyone who wants one, where will we park them all?
(Or will this be an excuse for employers and businesses to stop buying and maintaining furniture?)
Take one of those unicycles and put a motor in them equivalent to a one-rotor version of the un-PC rotary (gasoline) engine that offers 100+ horsepower, and the unicycle is ready to go racing.
Fun piece.
Looks like it takes longer to set up, turn on and mount than it would to walk to wherever you needed to go. Racing them up & down hallways could compete with internet porn, texting and tweeting as another boon to office efficiency. And, I can just see my Workers Comp rates going through the roof at the first accident. On the up-side, we could add safety helmets to our already draconian dress code.
The puma actually looks pretty cool for non fossil low weight and low cost urban transport. The “indoor segway” just a little silly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlHhimlc2Pc
The PUMA looks like fun, actually — better than just a Segway or motorized unicycle with a canopy.
I still think about not only my classic Vespa and putting a canopy on it, but also the BMW C1 idea:
http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/models/concepts/…
There's also this trike:
http://www.theautomoto.com/
the automoto does look intriguing. I've been watching for developments on the VW concept minicar:
http://www.greencar.com/articles/volkswagen-1-l…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre…
Volkswagen's CEO, Martin Winterkorn recently confirmed the company is working on a car that will get 235 mpg (1 liter per 100 kilometers) fuel economy. In 2002, VW showed its 1-Liter concept car that achieved 264 mpg (0.89L/100km). The project was cancelled in 2005 but VW has now revived it. How real is this? VW now says a limited production car could be offered by 2010.