Zoomi Life

Move over, Segway, now there’s something nerdier! When the Segway came out a couple of years ago, it defined the “nerd” transport industry. Well, the people at Focus Designs have come up with something better than the Segway… the SBU (Self-Balancing Unicycle).

The SBU can pass you by at 8.5 miles per hour, goes for up to twelve miles on a single charge, and weighs only 25 pounds. The rider controls it by leaning forward to go faster, leaning back to slow down or stop, but the pedals don’t move—they’re just foot rests.

Even those with unsteady balance could ride an SBU, according to the information from Focus Designs. The unicycle includes “accelerometers and gyroscopes with balancing algorithms” to steady it. Not sure what that means, exactly, but it sounds good. Their estimate is that all those scientific words ad up to the SBU being about half as difficult to stay upright on as a regular unicycle.

A limited production of just a handful of units (from ten to a dozen) begins in November, but to get one, you’ll need to be a good interview. Candidates to purchase the SBU will be chosen based on order date and the quality of a personal interview. The units cost about $1,500 to buy if your interview goes well.

All joking aside, this is a pretty cool innovation in the electric vehicle market and shows that just about anything you use for transportation can probably be made into an electric version of itself.

Check out a video of the SBU in action below:

This Post via Focus Designs