But seriously, it’s a Segway re-imagined by designer Michael DiTullo, who created it in response to the Project PUMA concept from earlier this year.

The thing’s a two-seater too, so bring a friend! [Design Blog]

One without a whole bunch of ramps, surprisingly. The interior has living spaces and working spaces, housing both a lab and a crazy wooden maze of banisters and staircases.

Kamen himself calls his house a “cross between a technology museum of old stuff and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.” Accurate only if Willy Wonka wore a jean suit. But, both are pretty admirable people, so it’s a fair comparison.

Also cool are the sports facilities (tennis courts, basketball hoops, a friggin’ softball field), plus a steam engine. All befitting an impressive man who was nevertheless able to put me to sleep at my own graduation. [WMUR - Thanks Eq!]

I must say the results are kind of unimpressive. Nothing like heading to North Korea. But hey, it’s May Fourth. [VBS TV via Gothamist]

Hello Brian,

Let me start by saying that I love Gizmodo. I read it almost every day and frequently post in the comments section. The reason I’m writing to you is not to whine, but to make you aware (if you’re not already) that a great number of disabled people use Segways instead of wheelchairs or mobility scooters. It may not always be apparent that a person has a disability, as is the case with me (severe ankle injury that didn’t heal properly). I know that a lot of the anti-Segway sentiment assumes that everyone who owns or uses one is a lazy douchebag. While this may be true in some cases, I would bet that a higher percentage of non-commercial use (Police, security, etc) Segways are used by disabled or handicapped persons. In fact the only reason that Segways are not marketed as FDA certified mobility assist devices is that Dean Kamen sold the rights for the medical applications of the balancing technology to Johnson and Johnson before the Segway was ever released (the iBot wheelchair).

Again, I’m not whining, but all of the Giz posts seem to automatically assume that all Segway operators are fat, lazy, turds. This is a bit misleading and lacks insight. Check out www.segs4vets.com to see some of the good that Segways do for our disabled returning veterans. I don’t care about apologies or anything like that, I just wanted you to know that these things do a lot of good for a lot of people.

Thanks!

Allen Ash

OK I FEEL REALLY BAD NOW!

“You end up lying there saying, ‘I’m not stopping. It would be an act of shallow cowardice. Or you decide to quit and you say, ‘This is one of those ideas that just isn’t going to work,’ “

Obviously, Dean Kamen’s hope for a transportation revolution never came to fruition for two main reasons: price and the overwhelming dork factor. I mean this sort of thing is just bad publicity.[CNN via Jalopnik]