December 3, 2001

Inventor Unveils 'Ginger,' A Battery-Powered Scooter

NEW YORK -- Capping months of speculation about his mysterious innovation, an accomplished inventor unveiled the device Monday -- a one-person, battery-powered scooter that he claims will revolutionize transportation.

Inventor Dean Kamen and his backers have big hopes for the agile Segway Human Transporter, saying the scooter will displace awkward, polluting cars, leading to a realigned cityscape that is more people-friendly.

The Segway, until now known only by its codenames "IT" and "Ginger," "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy," Mr. Kamen boasted to Time magazine for Monday's edition. "Cars are great for going long distances. But it makes no sense at all for people in cities to use a 4,000-pound piece of metal."

Mr. Kamen revealed the scooter on ABC's Good Morning America on Monday. ABC's parent company, the Walt Disney Co., has sponsored Mr. Kamen's robot-building competitions for students.

Mr. Kamen and the morning show's hosts took the scooter for a spin in a New York park, demonstrating various maneuvers and cruising up and down ramps as crowds watched.

"It just does it very smoothly, very gracefully. ... What used to take you a half an hour will take you seven, eight, nine minutes," Mr. Kamen said.

See a low-bandwidth (56k) or high-bandwidth (DSL, T1) videoclip; RealPlayer 8 is required.

The two-wheeled Segway, which looks like a cross between a hand mower and a Razor scooter, travels at up to 12 mph, said Kamen spokesman Dave Chapman.

It is designed to be difficult to fall from or knock over because of gyroscopes that work to keep it upright. Speed and direction are controlled by the rider's shifting weight.

Riders stand upright over the invention's single axle, navigating with a bicycle-like handlebar. A single battery charge can propel the scooter 15 miles over level ground.

"All the knowledge that went into knowing how to walk is transferred to this machine. When you stand on this machine it kind of walks for you," Mr. Kamen said in revealing the scooter.

Mr. Kamen, whose Manchester, N.H.-based DEKA Research and Development (www.dekaresearch.com) company will oversee production, said the Segway requires about 10 cents' worth of electricity for a six-hour charge.

Mr. Kamen holds roughly 100 U.S. patents. His other inventions include the heart stent used by Vice President Dick Cheney and a wheelchair that can climb stairs.

The U.S. Postal Service and the City of Atlanta will be among the first purchasers, buying 80-pound heavy-duty models for $8,000 apiece, Mr. Chapman said.

The Postal Service plans to test 20 Segways on mail routes in Concord, N.H., and Tampa and Fort Myers, Fla., starting in January, Mr. Chapman said. In February, Atlanta's visitor's bureau employees will begin using the scooters to patrol the tourist district, Mr. Chapman said.

A 65-pound, $3,000 consumer model won't be available for at least a year.

Segway's director of marketing, Tobe Cohen, said Mr. Kamen hopes operators will be permitted to ride the Segway on city sidewalks, negating the need for licenses or insurance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ruled that Segway is not a vehicle, Mr. Cohen said. "We're working with state regulators to make sure they understand that," Mr. Cohen said.

Mr. Kamen, who said he withheld information on the Segway until he had finished filing related patents, is an accomplished inventor and recipient last year of the National Medal of Technology, awarded by President Clinton. His previous inventions also include the first portable kidney dialysis machine.

From the time plans for the machine were first leaked to Web site Inside.com almost a year ago, tantalizing but vague mentions of the project kept the device in a controlled state of pent-up hype.

Corporate luminaries who had gotten sneak previews described the machine's impact as "as big as the PC" and "bigger than the Internet."

Others have labeled the invention as a bunch of hype.