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A Killer App For Segway
cameronk writes "The NYT reports that Segway is developing a growing popularity with people who are mobility-impaired. My 94 year-old grandfather is too proud to use a wheelchair, yet too fragile to walk. The Segway seems like an ideal way for him to maneuver about."
most elderly don't have very good balance. does riding a segway require any?
if it does, then that would not be a good choice of transportation for older people
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Too frail to walk, but not too frail to crash?
Sounds more like to bored to walk.
More like "stubborn". There is nothing wrong with a wheelchair. The problem is with the old man's head.
Wouldn't the old people still have to stand for extended periods of time?
hi
My grandma died after complications from a broken hip ~ 3 years hospital stay, infections, never fully recovered..
My grandpa, a few years later, died from complications from a broken hip (slipped on the snow).
I really don't think a Segway is the best answer for old people or even fat people for that matter. Ya, it's a cute little machine that looks like fun - but it takes a certain amount of balance to use and from the way people stand, it's about as forgiving as a bicycle when you fall off of it or the batteries get low.
Every time I see the Segway in use on campus, it makes me glad I'm one of the people that still thinks walking isn't half bad.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
Thats probably not that big of a niche.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
Enabling in the sense that it enables laziness. Rather than being forced to get some exercise, people are told to get a "scooter". It's a powered wheelchair. A scooter is a skateboard with handlebars.
For the genuinely disabled, a wheelchair is the difference between thriving and rotting. Most Segway ownere I see are just too lazy to do their own walking.
I see a lot of obese grandmothers, age 55, riding around on these things with their nose in the air, and I remember something I heard an old Irish country doctor tell an elderly patient: "You don't want to lose your walk. Once you lose your walk, everything goes."
sigs, as if you care.
And it would be political death to suggest that handicapped people couldn't have four wheel wheelchairs, no matter how fast, cool or fun they look.
I dunno about you, but I'd rather she hit me with a Segway then a car...
I have had the luck of actually being able to ride on one of these for about 10 minutes about a year ago. They are incredibly easy to use once you get used to trusting it....however...I would not recommend getting it for anyone who has trouble walking up steps, or has a bad sense of balance.
I found it a bit tricky to get on at first, because unless you're pretty careful, the thing tends to start moving before you're ready for it. Also, it really doesn't take much to get it to move forward or backward, so not having a good sense of balance once on it could send you in directions you're not expecting.
Don't get me wrong, I loved riding the thing and I think after an hour or two of riding and steering it around I could have mastered the thing. But I am 25 years old, and have a decent sense of balance. It was not a problem for me to control. The thing is very heavy though, and once you're off and the motors are disengaged it is very tricky to load in a vehicle or "park" in the corner.
Perhaps not the best thing for an elderly person. A walker or a cane, or even a wheelchair would be more suitable, not to mention that all three of those things are welcome inside most places (I have yet to see a Segway driving through the grocery store). But for a younger disabled person who has strength to control it and deal with moving it around it could mean a whole new life and way of getting around.
I would love to buy one of these, it would pay itself off in a week just charging for rides!
The Segway's technology was adapted from wheelchairs that can raise up on two wheels for better mobility. It's what the technology was originally intended for, and the Segway really wasn't that large a departure from it.
As far as I'm concerned, anything that can take away some of the stigma of a wheelchair for those that can still stand, is a great thing.
Frankly, if it was my relative I'd encourage them to use a powered chair
There are millions of people with impaired mobility who are not so impaired that they need to use a chair. Segway gives those persons a nice means of getting around.
Plus, there's the collision factor: an elderly person who isn't too steady and who has slower reaction times than the norm is more likely to hit an obstacle that suddenly appears in his path and/or fall off as a result of the resulting sudden stop.
Well, yeah. Any type of transportation should match the person's physical condition and the user should exercise judgment and care in it's use. Why is this specific to the Segway?
Segway appears to be a great way for mildly disabled persons to get around. It's sorta halfway between walking and a wheelchair. Highly maneuverable, with a greater range and lower cost than a wheelchair.
Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad, get me out of this.
For some reason, I'm not shocked by that...
Seriously, Segways aren't glued to the ground. Just because they can maneuver easily on the road or sidewalk doesn't mean you can take them anywhere at all without paying attention to what you're doing. If you radically shift the center of balance to one side, you risk toppling over. The gyros take care of front-to-back motion and basic instability, but but if you do something like drive a single wheel off a curb laterally, two things will almost certainly happen:
1 - your center of gravity will suddenly find itself moved to the outside of the wheel.
2 - you'll topple over.
Even though Segways are easy to ride and inherently very safe, they still require smart and careful operation to stay that way. Your friend's accident, from how you describe it, had nothing to do with agility and everything to do with careless riding. If he kept his wheel away from the curb, there would have been no problem.
I do hope he has recovered from the accident, and if he ever tries to ride one again he simply needs to mind the terrain. As for me, I do not own a Segway, but it's high on the list of Things To Get If I Ever Have A Major Windfall. Or if the price ever drops under $1500 or so - my office is about 5 miles away in the next town, and I could easily make the trip with one most days.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
of course if the segway becomes a device for the disabled, there can be no law to stop their usage on sidewalks, or even inside malls, as the American with Disabilities Act would prevent that. In the USA at least.
Seems that thing has an unwieldy failure mode IMHO.
as long as the device is being used as intended, and is NOT properly labled as a dangerous device, then yes, otherwise, if it is used for running over babies, doing skateboard like tricks, etc, the company should NOT be liable
It's like suing Glock because they manufactured the handgun that was in the hands of a killer who killed a family member of yours, it makes no sense!
"And so the Trekkies were executed in the mannor most befitting virgins - thrown into volcanoes" - Futurama
I would argue that many elderly people would be far more likely to fall walking than when cautiously riding a Segway.
I've got to agree, and the article seems to indicate users find it more comfortable to stand while getting around rather than sitting in a wheelchair. If you're stuck sitting without much ability to shift around, it gets painful after awhile. Old people have trouble walking, that's not the same as standing. Standing you can just, well, stand there. But walking is much more complicated, you've got to get a bunch of weight shifted, move some bones, keep the weight balanced while only one foot is on the ground, swing that weight along properly, land it right, shift weight the other way for the other foot... Plenty of opportunities to lose control and fall, and that's probably where more elderly falls come from. They don't just sort of keel over while standing still, generally speaking.
There seem to be a lot of people here who have never ridden a Segway but are quite comfy voicing opinions on how safe it is and how we should keep the elderly off them - no sense in letting them have any fun!
First, they addressed that low battery tipping thing early on, now I bleieve they have a number of warnings and I think it also slows to a halt if the battery gets too low.
Secondly they have a power-assist mode so they can scoot themselves up curbs and over into corners even when you're not on them.
Thirdly you can go as slow as you like - but at least you have the option to go faster. The Segway would give you a much more practical range than a wheelchair as it can go faster where it is safe to, and also fits more places than a wheelchair does.
When I'm 90 (or 190) I know which I would prefer if I need some assitance getting around.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"too proud to use a wheelchair..."
That's not pride... *True* pride is using whatever resources are available to lead life to its fullest, without feeling ashamed to show others we are different. It is a *lack* of pride that would lead a person to restrict his/her enjoyment of life and visibility in public for fear "normal" people see their differences.
(Speaking here as a disabled but not mobility-impaired person, that uses technology to its fullest as I need to lead my life. If others think I'm somehow inferior for not being a clone of them, well, that's a reflection on their own bigotry, not something I'm going to halt MY life over.)
There are also a *lot* of disabilities that make it possible to stand but extremely tiring to walk, and one can certainly be "genuinely" disabled without having a severe mobility impairment! Saying the technology that helps people like that is just "enabling" them to be "lazy" is revoltingly uninformed.
One simple example would be multiple sclerosis. Somebody with MS can be *completely* disabled considerably before they lose the ability to walk, and in fact often never lose it completely. Small amounts of activity can tire them out, so having something like a motorized wheelchair makes the difference between being able to do one short activity before needing to go to bed for the day, and being able to lead something resembling a "good" life. There are many other disorders with the same effect as well.
Some disorders also require sporadic treatment with drugs (like prednisolone) that can cause massive (usually short-term) weight gain. Other times, it becomes a matter of being so impaired on a daily basis that something as simple as taking a shower is a struggle that requires a nap afterwards. It's not surprising that people unable to gather enough energy to do more than shower would ultimately gain weight, especially if they are also put on one of the meds that causes tissue swelling.
I'm not saying all cases are like this. I'm sure that there are people that choose not to exercise, refuse to eat right, and really are just using scooters because they're overweight. But don't go around slamming all people using motorized scooters or similar for being "lazy" when you have no idea how many have a legitimate illness that makes their everyday lives harder than you can even *imagine* life being.
Wouldn't getting a bicycle be a better option? If you are TOTALLY out of shape get one of the ones that have some power assist (for example http://store.nycewheels.com/honstepcomel.html), and use the assist as necessary. Unless you have a real physical debility I think you'd find yourself getting off the power assist bike to a regular bike in no time flat.
... chacun à son goût, and all that.
Not meaning to be critical
"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
Err wasn't the reason he fell off was because he forgot to turn the thing on!