Walk This Way on Toyota's i-Foot
Posted on March 23, 2005
iPod meet the i-foot. Somehow the iPod seems more useful, but this is certainly an interesting creation from Toyota. The future will be a very amusing and strange place if everyone is getting around on i-Foots.
Toyota displayed the i-Foot as well as robots that play instruments at the Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, which begins March 25, 2005. This 2-legged, mountable, egg-shaped robot was developed for three-dimensional mobility, with the ability to navigate staircases. The passenger climbs on and drives with a joystick.
Toyota hopes the i-Foot will eventually replace wheelchairs since users can control it with a joystick even on staircases. Here's a video of the unusual device in action. It even climbs stairs although it isn't clear how you can see where you are going while walking down stairs in the i-Foot in this video.
In a release, Toyota describes the i-Foot as having a "shell on legs" design and describes the leg design as a "bird-like structure."
Update: It is 2019 and the i-Foot has not replaced wheelchairs.
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