NEW YORK, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- After a year of wild hype and speculation in the technology world, the mystery invention known only as "Ginger" or "It" finally was unveiled on national television Monday.
The two-wheeled, self-balancing, energy-efficient scooter-like vehicle -- now renamed the Segway -- can instinctively read body intent to propel riders at about 12 miles per hour, as if by thought alone.
The device -- which has no brakes, no engine, no steering wheel and runs on practically no electricity -- is the brainchild of inventor-entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the innovator behind gizmos ranging from the first drug-infusion pump to a wheelchair that climbs stairs.
"Ultimately, the Segway HT can make urban environments more livable by providing a solution to short-distance travel," Kamen said. "If the Segway HT is widely adopted, it could help solve major urban problems, such as pollution, congestion and livability."
Rumors began to run rampant about Ginger in January when news leaked about a $250,000 book proposal offered to Kamen from Harvard Business School press to chronicle the making of Ginger. The hoopla was fueled by a wave of hyperbolic praise from technology giants who were allowed to see "It."
"It's bigger than the Internet," said Internet pioneer Bob Metcalf at the time. Apple founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said people would build cities around it.
After the initial outburst of interest, Kamen quickly cautioned, in a statement on the Web site of his New Hampshire-based company Deka Research & Development, that "We have a promising project, but nothing of the earth-shattering nature that people are conjuring up."
That didn't stop the wave of theorizing about everything from a revolutionary hydrogen-powered car to an anti-gravity machine.
The reality as unveiled on ABC's "Good Morning America," while less fantastic, is no less impressive.
Every Segway operates on three personal computers' worth of computing power, five aviation-grade gyroscopes, two emission-free electric motors and a host of tilt sensors, with flat-resistant, high-traction tubeless tires and a chassis tested to withstand 7 tons of force.
The end result? A vehicle that senses instinctive shifts in balance to propel a person by what seems to be mental command and maintains balance so well a rider will not fall, even if shoved. It can carry a rider for a full day and is easily rechargeable by plugging into any outlet.
"It's magic. It sounds crazy and I think when you see it, you don't really get the full impact of it, but it's really magic," said Lynn Mann, spokesperson for Michelin North America. "It's very intuitive. You lean forward, and you're going forward, and then by pulling yourself up to a full stature you come to a stop, and when you think of going forward faster, you're going faster. It takes you about 30 seconds to really kind of trust it, to know that it's going to balance right. And as soon as you trust, it, it's extremely stable."
Michelin North America is testing a number of the devices next week at their headquarters in Greenville, S.C. for possible employee use, to help maximize worker efficiency.
The vehicle, however, is not expected to come cheaply or soon. The Segway was developed over a decade for more than $100 million, and consumer models should cost around $3,000. Also, though the gizmo's announcement comes right in time for the holidays -- with limited quantities going out over the next few weeks -- it should only become widely available by the end of next year.
"With over 80 percent of the world's population soon to be living in urban areas, we believe that the Segway HT can, over time, play a vital role in these areas," Kamen said. "In the past, every major advance in powered transportation technology has involved ways of going long distances faster from the horse and buggy to the car to the airplane.
"The Segway HT, on the other hand, addresses the problem of moving people and products relatively short distances more efficiently, a few miles rather than from town to town, using very little energy in the process," he said.
An $8,000 industrial-strength model also is in the works. Interested customers reportedly include the United States Postal Service, Federal Express, the National Parks Service, the Boston police department and the Department of Defense.
