Could this device be the answer for some?

[alelks]

I can see this as being a real benefit for many. It sure beats sitting in a wheelchair looking up at everything for the rest of your life.

Click Me

[SouthernDZ]

This last year I spent quite a bit of time at Walter Reed. It's difficult to get used to seeing so many wounded.

The Segway company donates the segway devices to these amputees. You'd walk down the street and see 5-6 of these segways in formation moving down the street in Ranger file. Some of them are quadruple amputees.

As I said, it takes some getting used to.

Thanks for the post.

[Razor]

It could be useful for some, so long as they stay in the home or don't have to transport themselves in a (non-heavily modified) vehicle independently. Given the need for front counterweight to handle the cantelever forces of the user, along with the drive mechanism, there's no way the device could pop a front-end wheelie, which is crucial to getting over or down short curbs or uneven surfaces such as shifted sidewalk slabs. Also, while they showed the model near a toilet, they didn't show how he supposedly got out of the sling seat onto the toilet, removed his pants, put his pants back on and replaced the seat sling, all while seated on something. More recent studies have shown that the old "1 hour a day of standing" isn't nearly as beneficial as some once thought. To get the benefit of maintaining bone density through weight bearing, a user would have to stay upright in a standing device for 6+ hours a day. This is not to say that other benefits, such as stretching muscles and connective tissues that have a tendency to contract over time when a joint stays in a flexed position wouldn't be supported by this device.

It's a neat tool that would work well and be very useful in the home, but probably wouldn't be very useful to mostly independent users outside the home.

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Razor

It's a neat tool that would work well and be very useful in the home, but probably wouldn't be very useful to mostly independent users outside the home.

It is going to be useful to many but as Razor mentioned, personal hygiene and bathing will be problematic.

I like it. And just like the segway's, it will help, with limits..

I also think there is an unmentioned backside. To be able to use the device, the individual needs to be young, strong, and THIN.