Hey Maurice, glad to see you enjoyed your Segway experience. I participated in a Segway tour of Paris a couple years ago, it was a great experience. A small group of us, most unknown to each other, were given a short lesson first; how to stop, turn, go up and down small curbs, etc. We then were guided through the city and saw a long list of the standard tourist attractions.
Being out in the open, right there in amongst the pedestrians, made the experience so much more friendly and intimate somehow. I enjoyed it immensely.
As to your ideas for changing the device, I mostly disagree. I think each of your ideas would, in practice, complicate an otherwise extremely simple and (importantly) intuitive device. One wheel would add balance issues that the current device doesn't have. Think how much harder it is to control a unicycle compared to a bicycle. The Segway does the balance work for you, but because there are two wheels that is a manageable (albeit technically amazing) task.
The voice commands would be awkward, and could be inconvenient as you point out. Plus, they just aren't intuitive as we don't communicate with anything else that way.
The toe control for the handlebar steering control has merit though, for experienced riders. It would free both hands which could be useful for carrying things, talking on the phone, etc. However, I think that a person who's likely to get a Segway would be likely to have a hands free phone.
John |
