Creating expertise for the aim of serving to folks with disabilities is a noble objective and one the place strides appear to be being made to make the world a extra accessible place for all. Nevertheless, Honda reckons its UNI-ONE Segway-like gadget is not only for folks with mobility points, as the corporate has launched a video displaying somebody having a whale of a time in a single outfitted with a VR headset.
In an fascinating instance of repurposing purposeful expertise for leisure functions, the UNI-ONE, Honda’s self-balancing mobility resolution first demonstrated in 2023, has been pitched as a “model new multimodal expertise that takes prolonged actuality applied sciences to the following stage” with the addition of VR (by way of Gizmodo). The corporate shall be displaying off the gadget at SXSW, inviting attendees to experience the UNI-ONE whereas sporting a VR headset and shifting their physique weight to steer.
In line with the press launch, experiences will embrace “the peaceable feeling of floating within the sky” or “the exhilarating feeling of gliding alongside a half-pipe path”.
The corporate envisions folks having fun with the expertise in indoor and outside “obstacle-free areas”—which strikes as a necessity reasonably than an possibility—together with theme parks, leisure amenities, and purchasing malls.
Honda additionally desires to collaborate with AR and VR builders to create VR experiences that make use of UNI-ONE’s free-flowing motion, and within the accompanying video, our intrepid test-ee definitely appears to be having a superb time utilizing a headset with the gadget, stretching out their arms and grinning.
You may virtually hear the “wheeeee” as they glide across the (noticeably obstacle-free and spacious) check room.
Nicely, who’s to disclaim that it does look enjoyable? Nevertheless, the UNI-ONE does have a critical supposed function past its leisure prospects and makes use of some spectacular expertise to realize it.
As soon as a consumer has strapped themselves into the seat, the gadget lifts itself off of the bottom onto two self-balancing motorised wheels that Honda calls its “Honda Omni Traction Drive System”, which then permits easy and multi-directional motion.
The gadget additionally options an adjustable motorised seat that may be raised to the next place to permit customers to be nearer to the attention stage of somebody standing and may be turned with the shifting of physique weight. A joystick can be offered for added motion management, and it may possibly obtain a most pace of three.7 miles per hour.
Whereas its purposeful utilization as a mobility gadget remains to be the first objective, pivoting it round to an leisure gadget is definitely an fascinating if maybe impractical use-case for the tech, though judging by the grinning response of our check topic it does look like it may additionally present a novel leisure expertise on the very least. Let’s simply hope the sales space attendants at SXSW are looking out for passing pedestrians, I suppose, or these pesky obstacles.
