SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Biotech / Medical : Dean Kamen and Ginger ???

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: George the Greek who wrote (2)1/12/2001 2:55:51 AM
From: Dee Jay  Read Replies (2) of 377
 
as an aside, having been involved with a company that created a stairclimbing wheelchair quite a few years ago (it worked well but without the balancing act of the iBot) and also a whole lot of experience with conventional powered wheelchairs I doubt very much that a product with its complexity will RETAIL for $25K. Conventional powered wheelchairs now, with no stairclimbing or user-hoisting capabilities, retail for as much as $10,000 (or far more with complex control systems - $16K is not unusual) today. Just check out:

invacare.com and quickie.com

the leading mfrs. of power wheelchairs of the type you see on the sidewalks right now.

Even J & J isn't going to be able to pull that off; the liability insurance delegated to each unit will likely be $200 in my estimation, given what it is supposed to do and where it is going to go. And if they're using MS anything to run on the Pentiums you can be sure a General Failure of any sort will cause an immediate shutdown wherever it may be; I'm sure the software will provide for the sensors to keep the balance but what then if you're a quadriplegic...

As for Ginger my vote is some sort of power supply, that is a device that pulls power out of the air, but the power (of whatever nature it may be) will be of short distribution capability so that cities will have to be built around it. There are devices now that are called wireless fiber systems that blanket a metro area with data transmission at high rate capabilities; this may be on that order is my guess. A non-polluting power system...

This device is not necessarily a medical item - Dean Kamen thinks outside the box and so should anyone who has any reason to speculate about Ginger.

Dee Jay
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext