hi all At 22:38 1999/07/13 EDT, bonnie wrote: > > A revolutionary new wheelchair > >Correspondent John Hockenberry reports on a revolutionary new >wheelchair that's designed to really go places. > >A first look at a whole new world on wheels. Watch the video of >the report. > >NBCNews > >June 30 - We have the know-how to fly to the moon, but most people >who can't walk still get around with what's essentially 200-year-old >technology - the wheelchair. One inventor has decided it's time to >get wheelchair riders rolling into the 21st century. He says his >machine can take you just about anywhere you want to go. He's been >keeping his top secret invention under wraps - until now. > >WHEELCHAIRS CAN GET you around, but they don't get close enough to >the places disabled people might like to go. You've heard the expression >confined to a wheelchair? Well actually, if you think about it, it's the >heelchairs that are confined to the relatively few smooth, easy-rolling >places in the world. But what if somebody came up with a device that, >as they say, could go where no wheelchairs have gone before? > >It would take someone on a mission. Someone with the money and genius >and time to put into the project. It would take someone like Dean Kamen. >Dean Kamen's new invention can take wheelchair riders to new heights. > >He's one of this nation's most prestigious inventors. He's a sort of >Thomas Edison in the medical world. Among Kamen's inventions is a >portable kidney dialysis machine. His early ideas made him millions, but >money is not what drives Dean Kamen. > >"I don't work on a project unless I believe that it will dramatically >improve life for a bunch of people", says Kamen. > >Nine years ago Kamen wanted to improve the life of a young man he >happened to see struggling to get his wheelchair up a curb. > >"I just fixated on how unreasonable that condition really is", he says. >"And it just seemed to me that the fundamental issue was the world has >not been architected for people that are sitting down at 39 inches. > >Kamen thought about this old problem in a revolutionary new way. What >if instead of getting a chair that could go upstairs, you could make a >machine that could stand up and balance the way humans do? > >More about the Independence 3000 > >For details call the Hotline at 1-888-IND-3000 or visit their Web site. > >"Your mother remembers your first steps. It's a big deal that humans >walk erect", says Kamen. "It's difficult to do. But once we've learned to >do it, we're capable of dealing with curbs And a world with stairs." > >Kamen and his engineers came up with a two-wheeled balancing prototype >that worked and became a top-secret patented invention crammed full of >sophisticated gyroscopes, electric motors and computers. Kamen allowed >"Dateline" an exclusive peek at it. To our surprise, Kamen's machine was >actually more compact and narrower than a traditional wheelchair. > >WHAT IS THIS EXTRAORDINARY MACHINE CAPABLE OF DOING? > >It can climb stairs, roll through sand, and can even raise its height >to reach the top of shelves. What's exciting about this device is not >the technology, it's the choices - that you could go from point A to >point B anyway you want. And this isn't some exotic experiment on a >device that no one is ever going to see. The builders of this machine >intend that it's going to be used out in the world - and soon. > >In order to bring his invention to the mass market, Kamen needed the >help of a company with considerable resources. So he got in touch with >the Johnson and Johnson corporation. How long before this could actually >be seen on the market? > >"We think within 18 to 24 months", says Dr. Robert Gussin, the company's >vice president of technology. "It's got to go through a rigorous FDA >clearance procedure." > >Since a wheelchair is a medical device, it has to be tested by the >Food and Drug Administration. It's more like a drug than like a bicycle or >a lawnmower. With the idea that virtually any failure could be catastrophic, >Kamen's engineers have rocked, rolled, bounced, drowned, and pounded their >new machine. > >Can Dean Kamen's new device change the world? Nobody knows until the >FDA approves it for use outside of the lab and beyond the inventor's own >property. But one thing is certain, the emotional impact can already be >felt. > >Brace yourself for the price: Dean Kamen's invention will cost about >$20,000 when it becomes available to the public. But because it could spare >the expense of customizing homes with ramps and wider doorways, and >mechanical lifts in cars, the money spent could be offset in money saved. i caught the tail-end of an interview with dean kamen on cbc radio last night. he said the 'eureka' idea came to him one day after stepping out of the shower - he almost slipped and fell - but didn't. he thought about the lengths that the human body would go to, [arms flailing all over the place] to keep one's balance. balance was the key. janet janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset snail-mail: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada website: a new voice <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/> e-mail: <[log in to unmask]>