I know about this machine and have read a lot about it. I understand that it is new enginering and unlike anything else. However, I dont understand the niche its supposed to fill. Does anyone know how the inventor thought this will fill any niche where an electric powered scooter cant and why this will be more popular? Surely this has been addressed before…
The inventor didn’t go out to make a 2-wheel self-balancing scooter from scratch. His original invention was the IBOT, a mobility system (i.e. advanced powered wheelchair) that can climb stairs. It can also “stand up” on two wheels to raise the rider. Not just useful at counters and cocktail parties, but a major ego boost for the users who otherwise have to look up at everyone. For this he had to develop sensors and control logic for balancing a vehicle on two wheels placed side by side.
So the technology was there first. I’m guessing he then looked for other, more profitable areas to apply it to. With all the concernns about the environment and the scooter craze, the personal transport market must have seemed like a good choice. Maybe it still is, I don’t know.
There have been numerous threads in the SDMB already about the viability/lack thereof of the Segway; you can use the search to find them if you want lots of opitions.
One thing to remember about the Segway when comparing it to scooters and bicycles is that the Segway doesn’t take up much more “floor area” than a person standing upright. You can ride a Segway anywhere you can roll a wheelchair now, which you can’t easily do with a bike. And the Segway is intended to be used indoors, so you (theoretically) don’t need to spend time finding a bike rack and locking it up when you get to the mall.
I think Dean Kamden’s ideal would be to have folks use automobiles for long road trips, and Segway for local travel (say, within five miles of your current location). How much air pollution you can reduce with one depends partially on what kind of mass-transit network is already available in your area.
There are three and four wheel electric scooters which do not take up much more space than the Segway and yet have no need for all the expensive and complicated balancing part. You can see them being used by the workers at airports and such places. I cannot see the (musch more expensive) Segway displacing these.