Despite modern advancements in sneaker technology, walking
remains a slow way to go. Running, however, achieves acceptable velocity, but
even with a smoothie made by Lance Armstrong, we tire quickly. The Segway never
truly caught on for those not on government payrolls and, let’s face it,
skateboards went out of fashion shortly after the first "Back to the
Future."
Hyundai decided it’s time to change all this, and at the
Seoul Motor Show, its engineers unveiled a moveable egg concept that promises
speeds faster than a Segway, and a strange helmet that makes you look far
cooler than any skateboarder could ever dream.
The egg is entitled the E4U – standing for Egg, Evolution,
Electricity and Eco-friendliness. The result of an annual invention contest
among Hyundai engineers in South Korea, the odd-egg was designed as a potential
future of personal mobility: It can travel up to speeds just shy of 20 mph,
weighs 176 lbs. (sounds mobile to me), and boasts a 24V battery attached to a 500W
electric motor.
The steering appears to be controlled somewhat akin to the
Segway, with an abundance of tilting, pivoting, and other unnatural behaviors
required to induce motion.
According to tech site Nikkei Tech-On, who witnessed a
demonstration in Seoul, the E4U stands on semispherical balls. The driver
(rider?) must tilt the egg to move, but it appears to be in a rather
counterintuitive way: you move forward by putting weight on your left foot,
backwards by transferring the weight to your right foot, and left and right by
tilting backwards and forwards respectively. Tech-On mentioned the driver
stated, “Without some practice, it does not move in the desired direction.”
Hyundai make a point of emphasizing the streamlined stance
of the E4U, because, you know, aerodynamics play a large role at speeds as high
as 18 mph. Perhaps the best feature is the helmet, however. It appears to be
your regular bicycle helmet with a clear plastic screen draped over the
driver’s face; presumably to prevent bug splatter while maximizing operator
shame.
Courtesy of Yahoo News
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