1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: In text with Technology with tech Stuff from hof dot com. 2 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: Either everyone and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Scritland, Host Ordinair, and I am Lauren Vogelbaum, host extraordinaire. 4 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: That's right, And today we wanted to talk a little 5 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: bit about the Segue and not the way of going 6 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: from one story to a different st seg w A 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,559 Speaker 1: y the the company and people mover or human transport device, 8 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: U scooter electronic scooter fancy and Lauren, you pointed out 9 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 1: to me that we actually we as in tech Stuff, 10 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: recorded an episode about Dean Cayman, who is the founder 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: of Segue a long long time ago, a very long 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: time ago in two thousand eight. Yeah. Well he's done 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of other really cool stuff. Yeah. He 14 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: he invented a thing called a Luke Arm, which is 15 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: a robotic arm that for people who have lost a limb. Yeah, 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: we talked a little bit, I bet about that in 17 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 1: a whole other podcast thing we're doing. Yeah, over and 18 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: Forward Thinking. It's great show. You guys, if you haven't 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: checked out Forward Thinking, you should definitely check it out. 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: It's great stuff. Uh. He also invented a water purification 21 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: device called the sling Shot, which can take pretty much 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: anything that has water content in it and purify it 23 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: into drinkable water. So you can take sewage and put 24 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: it through this thing and it would actually produce clean, 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: drinkable water. And it's meant for communities that have uh, 26 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 1: you know, have trouble accessing clean water. Fantastic thing. He's 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: partnered with some pretty big companies for that. But the segue, 28 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: I think is where a lot of people no Dean 29 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: Cayman like they've they heard about it that because of 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: the segue, well it got it got a great deal 31 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: of publicity, which we will talk about later in the episode. 32 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: Because it was the hype for it is can really 33 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: only be called hype. It was very intent. It was 34 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: it was like it was like if you had heard 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: that this rock and roll band that had not released 36 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: an album in like ten years was getting back together 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: to do their first studio album, uh and that you know, 38 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: in a decade, and that would that would be kind 39 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:17,920 Speaker 1: of similar to the hype build up. But not only 40 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: were they going to do an album, but they were 41 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: going to revolutionize the entire music industry with this album. 42 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: That's that's the level. Yeah, that's fair. So we'll talk 43 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: about that uh in a bit, but first we wanted 44 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,119 Speaker 1: to kind of talk about actually what it was and 45 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: how it worked. So if you were to look at 46 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: one of these things, in case you have not seen it, 47 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: it looks like a little two wheeled scooter, but the 48 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: wheels are are side by side. They're not in line 49 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: with one another. Their side by side. And when you 50 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: would stand on a platform with the left wheel to 51 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: your left and the right wheel to your right, there's 52 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: a bar that comes straight up vertically from the platform. Uh. 53 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: Their handlebars handle bars that you hold on to, and 54 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 1: then when you when you lean, it moves. When you 55 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: lean forward, it starts to move forward. When you lean backward, 56 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: it stops. If you lean back enough, it'll go backward 57 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: a little bit. But it's um and uh and and 58 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: the new models these days, when you tilt the handlebars, 59 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: that is how you steer. Yeah, And the original one, 60 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: you would twist one of the handlebars, the right handlebars, 61 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: so rapping a motorcycle style exactly. And if you if 62 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: you twisted, if you twisted one way, it would turn left, 63 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: and you twist the other way, it turns right. And 64 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: the way it turns is kind of cool. Uh. When 65 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: you lean forward, both wheels engage and start moving forward simultaneously. Correct. 66 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: When you turn, only one wheel starts to move in 67 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: one direction and the other wheel allows you to pivot 68 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: on on a dine right right. Yeah, it's a turning 69 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: radius of zero zero turning radius, which is pretty amazing. 70 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: And uh, we'll talk about what he intended this device 71 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: to do in the second half, I think, but first 72 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: we wanted to kind of talk about the actual technology 73 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: that makes this possible. And Dean came in. Before he 74 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: had gone into developing the Segway, had already started to 75 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: work on some pretty cool systems. He did some work 76 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: on on motorized wheelchairs that were capable of doing things 77 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: like climbing up staircases, and that work kind of led 78 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: him to the idea of what if I created a 79 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: device that could transport people at a good clip, uh, 80 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: and make it so that it it works on the 81 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 1: same principle as what it's like when you're walking, so 82 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: when you're yeah, exactly, it works in a way that 83 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: feels natural to us. Although I will tell you the 84 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: first time you get on a segway, nothing feels natural 85 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: about it. I haven't actually been on one. You have, 86 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: I have, I've done I've I've been on a segway. 87 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. I had a great time. But 88 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: have you ever engaged in an activity where the first 89 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: step requires you to do something that feels totally unnatural 90 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: to you, so that there's like your body is actually 91 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: resisting what you have to do. But basically that's me 92 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: walking every day. But I mean, but, but for for example, 93 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: when I switched from a W A S D keyboard 94 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: uh First Person Shooters to Xbox controller, I was like, 95 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: what is this? See? For me? What I think of 96 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: is like the first time when I was a little 97 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: kid that I ever tried snorkeling, because I put my 98 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: face in the water and my body's telling me, for 99 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: goodness sakes, man, whatever you do, don't breathe. Then you're underwater, 100 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: and you know, my my breast of my brain is saying, foolish, scary, 101 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: reptile brain, that's not anything to worry about. You have 102 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: a tube to the air which is unobstructed. You can 103 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 1: breathe all you like. And it took that leaped not literally, 104 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: I didn't literally leap, but no, yeah, I couldn't get 105 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: enough traction. But it took that mental leap to get 106 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: to a point where I felt comfortable. Same sort of 107 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: thing on a segue, because the way it works is 108 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: that you start to lean forward as if you're going 109 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: to take a step. Because basically what walking is is 110 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: controlled falling. You're you're you're throwing the upper part of 111 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: your body forward. You're you're essentially unbalancing yourself and counting 112 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: on one leg or the other hypothetically to catch it. Right, Yeah, 113 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: you just you're constantly catching yourself with your legs. You're 114 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: you know, especially if you're if you're walking at a 115 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: good pace, you know, you'll see people they're leaning into 116 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: it and uh, and that weight is what's helping them 117 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: propel forward. And then they swing a leg out, which 118 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: catches them, stops them from falling, and they use that 119 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: leg to push them forward, and then the other leg 120 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: and so on and so forth. And it's something that 121 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: we once we start to learn how to walk, it 122 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: just becomes natural to us. We don't even think about it. 123 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: All right, right, Well, we've got all kinds of a 124 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: really really intricate inner ear sensory mechanisms to tell us 125 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: when we're balanced and when we're off balanced and how 126 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: everything is going, it's a really it's such an automatic 127 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: process that when you're not too you're not thinking about it. Yeah. 128 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: And what's also funny is that that that same system 129 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: of sensors that we have in our brain. Well, two 130 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: things are funny. One thing is that a lot of 131 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: that informed Dean Cayman when he was designing the segue. 132 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: He wanted to have a mechanic coal means to sort 133 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: of recreate that. And the other thing is that these 134 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 1: sensors are not fails. They're they're not foolproof. We we 135 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: can fool ourselves. Uh. This is partially what leads us 136 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,559 Speaker 1: to things like motion sickness, where we get one set 137 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: of input from a set of senses telling us one thing, 138 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: and a different set of input from other senses telling 139 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: us another thing. And that that conflict makes our brains say, Okay, 140 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: if that's how you're gonna play it, we're losing lunch. 141 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: That's it. Uh. Someone who has suffered from from car 142 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: sickness motion sickness that way, strangely enough, never got sea sick. 143 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: But I've been motion sick from a car before. But anyway, 144 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 1: so the the they are fallible, these systems in our 145 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: our brains and in the segway. As it turns out. 146 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: So Dean Cayman wanted to create the segue in such 147 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: a way that it would require you to lean forward 148 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: as if you were going to take a step, and 149 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: that would be the indicator to move right and then 150 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: and then sort of trust in the machine. I imagine 151 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: that that's where you have your initial problem, because you're 152 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: you're you're leaning forward and you're not catching yourself. Yeah, 153 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: and you know you've already been told, You've already been told, 154 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: do not take your foot off the platform to step 155 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: and catch yourself, because then you run yourself over. So 156 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: not only do you not a helmet at the time, hypothetically, yes, 157 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: I was wearing a helmet at the time, and that 158 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: was that was that was a requirement. I want to 159 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: say that I was at Disney when I did this. 160 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: It was at some park and I think it was Disney, 161 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: and it was It was not the full epcut tour, 162 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: which we can talk about. I've got a little factoid 163 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: on that. Uh, there is a tour that very popular 164 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: tour at Epcot that uses segways. It wasn't that it 165 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: was just a little like familiarize yourself with this technology thing, 166 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: and I was like, I've always wanted to do this, 167 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: and that's when I tried it. So I've only done 168 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: at the one time, and I really would love to 169 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: have more time with it because it was an interesting experience. 170 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 1: But yes, it requires you to move forward as if 171 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: you were going to take a step, but not take 172 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: your weight completely off your foot, just lean forward as 173 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: if you were about to start walking, and that makes 174 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: the segway go, which is kind of cool. Um. Now, 175 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: the way it does that is it has a complex 176 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: system of gyroscopes inside to kind of let it know 177 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. Right. 178 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: It has five gyroscopes. In fact, technically it's really only 179 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: using three of them. Two of them are fail safe. Yeah. Yeah. 180 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: Three of them are meant to detect things like forward, 181 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: leaning forward, leaning backward, and tilt to the left or right. Right. Okay, 182 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: but so, so a gyroscope. Let's talk about what a 183 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: gyroscope is because a little bit integral. Yeah. Um, So 184 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,959 Speaker 1: it's basically just a spinning wheel inside a frame. Yeah, 185 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: the frame itself is stable and free. The spinning wheel 186 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: has um Well, it's rotating around an axis, right, so 187 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: you've got the access at the center of the wheel. 188 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: The wheel rotates, and then it was it was this 189 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:05,719 Speaker 1: changes forces that would change the alignment of that gyroscope 190 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: so well, because if you push on the on the 191 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: spinning wheel, it's just going to transfer into it's it's 192 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: called precessing. This is a really this is an interesting thing. 193 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: It's actually it's one of those things that's kind of 194 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: difficult to explain in an audio podcast. First of all, 195 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: let me tell you that at how stuff works dot 196 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: com we have an article on how gyroscopes work, which 197 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: includes video showing what I'm about to talk about. So 198 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: if you have trouble visualizing what I'm about to explain, 199 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: despite the fact that we're both gesticulating wildly, yeah, really, 200 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: I mean, there's only so much I can get across 201 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: in radio, right, but you can go there and look 202 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: it up. But what the gyroscope does is this whole 203 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: thing of precessing is imagine that you have a bicycle 204 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:52,880 Speaker 1: wheel suspended from a string strings tied to the ceiling somewhere. 205 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: The bicycle wheels hanging down the the string is tied 206 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: to the axis of the wheel, so it could still 207 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: spin freely. Okay, got it. Now, if you were to 208 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: align that wheel so it's vertical relative to the ground, 209 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: so the wheel is as if it was on a 210 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: bicycle that you were riding down the streets. Okay. The 211 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: string is tied to one side of that axis, so 212 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: there's a string that's coming down on one side of 213 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: the access to the other side of the access doesn't 214 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: have a string tied to it, so there's nothing to 215 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: keep it vertical. If you were to just let go, 216 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: that wheel would flop down into the horizontal uh formation. 217 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 1: It would just be parallel to the ground. Correct more 218 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: or less. If you were to turn it vertical and 219 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: then start spinning the wheel, it would remain vertical and 220 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: it would slowly begin to rotate around the string. So 221 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: that's the precession, is that it's rotating around a different 222 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: access perpendicular to the one of its main motion. Now, 223 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: why is it staying vertical as opposed to flopping over? 224 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: The reason for that is that if you were to 225 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: uh apply a force to say, uh, let's say you've 226 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 1: got the bicycle wheel spinning in your arms. Okay, you're 227 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: you're holding the you're holding the exis in front of you, 228 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: and the wheel is vertical, and you've got spinning. You 229 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: can do this. I've seen science museums that have had 230 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: this where you sit in a swivel chair and you 231 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: hold the bicycle wheel in front of you, like you 232 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: extend your arms out so that the wheel can spin 233 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: freely in front of you. If you try and tilt 234 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,320 Speaker 1: that wheel, you'll feel resistance. And the reason for that 235 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: is that imagine that, uh, you know, take a still image, 236 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,000 Speaker 1: like you're able to freeze time. Okay, I can, so 237 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: all right, well that's good, and you're going to tilt 238 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: the wheel so that the top of the wheel from 239 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: your perspective would be moving to the left and the 240 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: bottom of the wheel would be moving to the right. 241 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: You're tilting it on a diagonal. Okay. Now, as that 242 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: wheel is spinning the point where you would be turning 243 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:45,680 Speaker 1: it to the left, that that's you're replying a force 244 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: to that section. So imagine imagine a spot at the 245 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: very top of the wheel, at the vertical apex of 246 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: that wheel. Okay, that's where you're applying the force to 247 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: move to the left. Now, the wheel is actually spinning, 248 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: So if we were to jump ahead twenty frames. Now 249 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,319 Speaker 1: the point is directly in front of the wheel. It's 250 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: no longer at the top. It is rotated around to 251 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: be in the front, and uh, it still wants to 252 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,079 Speaker 1: go toward the left. Go ahead another twenty frames. Now 253 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: the point is at the bottom of the wheel. It 254 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: still wants to go to the left. But the force 255 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: you're applying is trying to make the bottom of the 256 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: wheel go to the right. So the force you're applying 257 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: is trying to push the wheels direction in one way. 258 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: But because that reference point was at the top at 259 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: the beginning and it's still trying to go to the 260 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:33,599 Speaker 1: left from when you were applying the force at the 261 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: very beginning, those two forces cancel each other out. It 262 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: resists the force to make it move in a different direction. 263 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,280 Speaker 1: And uh, then you also have the precession. So if 264 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: you're singing a swivel chair, you start to spin around. 265 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: It's kind of fun. Uh, this is a great cheap 266 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: way to entertain small children. Um, anyway, it's an interesting 267 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: just an interesting fact of physics is that the gyroscope 268 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: in this this stable frame will react in this way. 269 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: But so okay, so, so the point of gyroscopes being 270 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: in devices like this is that if you measure the 271 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: position of the spinning wheel inside of its frame, you 272 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: can determine the pitch and the pitch rate. Yeah, exactly, 273 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,559 Speaker 1: You're you're looking at like the the frame itself can 274 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: move freely within the confines of whatever it is you're 275 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: talking right, whether it's it could be a segue, it 276 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: could be an airplane, it could be a phone um 277 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: and so it can move freely within that context. And 278 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: it maybe a solid state drive, as is the case 279 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: with the segue, it may not be an actual physical 280 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: generos And well we'll get into that in just a second, right, 281 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: And uh, but if you're able to do that in 282 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: such a way, then the gyroscope and the pitch detection 283 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: will allow the will give enough information so that some 284 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: sort of processor can take that information in and know 285 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: what orientation the segue is in relative to the ground. 286 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: So by detecting these changes and by detecting the forces 287 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: that are in acting upon these different gyroscopes, the segue 288 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: can interpret that and say, oh, I should engage the 289 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: motor to drive forward, or I should stop, or I 290 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: should move backward backward exactly, or I should I should 291 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: probably put up a warning because this guy is really 292 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: leaning over a bit too far right, right, Um, but 293 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: so so yeah, So the kind of gyroscopes that are 294 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: that are in a segway. Are these solid state angular 295 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: rate sensors? Yes, that that are basically the way that 296 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: I understand. It's a little silicon plate. Yes, And I 297 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: think I actually said that the correct way the first time. Yes, 298 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: you did silicon not silicone. You're exactly right, two separate issues. Um. 299 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: And so it's a it's a silicon silicon plate mounted 300 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: on the support frame. And uh, you run, You run 301 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: an electrostatic current across the plate and wiggles the silicon 302 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: particles around and makes the plate as a whole vibrate 303 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: in a very predictable way. Um. And when there's a 304 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: physical change in the forces, uh, meaning when you've tilted 305 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: in some way. Yeah. Yeah, when when you physically move 306 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: the plate on its access access Yes, talking is great. 307 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: The particles suddenly shift and the vibration changes, right, And 308 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: by changing of vibration, you know that there's a change 309 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: in the state that you are in, whether that's a 310 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: tilt or you know, whatever other thing you might have. 311 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: This gyroscope. And but in the case of the segway. 312 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: We're talking about specifically the tilt of the segway itself. Right, 313 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: So if you hook a computer up to this, that 314 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: can measure the precise change, right and interpret it exactly. 315 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: So if it says like, oh, it's changed a little bit, 316 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: like the vibration has changed a little bit, indicating that 317 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: the person is starting to lean forward time to engage 318 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: the motors. If it's changed a lot, it might mean 319 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: that the person has leaned forward pretty hard, which indicates 320 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: that you should move at a faster pace. So you've 321 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: got these motors that will engage in order to activate 322 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: the wheels, and the wheels begin to turn and that's 323 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: where you get the motion. So the thing that's keeping 324 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: this all going is um. You know, you've got the 325 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: gyroscopic sensors that's giving the information. But then you have 326 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: two circuit boards that have controllers on them as ten 327 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,479 Speaker 1: microprocessors total in the original segue, and those microprocessors are 328 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,640 Speaker 1: what's taking in all this information and uh and and 329 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: translating it into action. Yeah. Yeah, that that first one. UM, 330 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: the microprocessors would check the position sensors about a hundred 331 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: times per second, that's right. Yeah, so that way it 332 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: can make sure that it's giving the right information to 333 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: the motors so that you're you're moving at the right 334 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: speed compared to how you are how you're physically manipulating 335 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: the segue right, right, It's it's also gotten there um 336 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: a couple of tilt sensors filled with electrolyte fluid, electrolytes 337 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: being of course what plants crave, thank you bond, which 338 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: which is again just like your inner ear. Yeah, yeah, 339 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: it's your inner ear has fluid in it, and that's 340 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 1: what helps you determine what your orientation is relative to 341 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: your environment. This is why one of the reasons why 342 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: when people go up in the vomit comet, that's why 343 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: it's called that, because when you're in the vomit commet, 344 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: you're you're the sensory information you're getting from your eyes 345 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: and from your your you know, what you're feeling is 346 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: so different from what your inner ear is trying to 347 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: make sense of when this fluid is suddenly yeah, yeah, 348 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: it's basically you've just got this little sensor in your 349 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 1: head where you've got a level of fluid, and that 350 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,439 Speaker 1: is how you calibrate yourself to the ground by based 351 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: on on where the fluid is tilting right and in 352 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: a freefall motion. That that information ends up being a 353 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: little weird, and so a lot of people end up 354 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 1: again losing their lunch, which is why they often refer 355 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: to the planes that take these these flights as the 356 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: vomit commet. Yeah, but it is interesting that the segue 357 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: itself has this electoral life. Not you don't have to 358 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: worry about your segue losing its lunch. Don't worry about 359 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: that part. That part similarity has now ended. But other 360 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: than that, it is using a very similar approach to 361 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: detect tilt as the way humans do, which again kind 362 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 1: of cool that Dean Camean is taking taking direction from 363 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: the way our bodies do stuff to help inform him 364 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,879 Speaker 1: on the way he makes technology. I blame it on 365 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: his extensive medical background. Yeah, and again the Luke arm 366 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 1: another example of that. Right, he's taking that that how 367 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: do humans do things and how can we make technology 368 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: that emulates this? He was also when he was in college, 369 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: he was the first He invented the first drug injection 370 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: pump and later the first portable insulin pump, which is 371 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: part of how he made such such Anne and the 372 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: cool thing to me is that it's obvious that what 373 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: drives him is a desire to innovate and to help people, 374 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: and he talks very passionately. There's some really really good 375 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: interviews with him will Lincome on social where he's talking 376 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: about watching people use his inventions for the first time 377 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: and and them kind of you know, people who haven't 378 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: been able to move this way ever and in some 379 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: cases and them and just the amount of pride and 380 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,160 Speaker 1: and just awesome that happens, and the fact that that 381 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: that is what what really uh gives him an incentive 382 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: to continue. Yeah, it's pretty interesting stuff. It's it's a 383 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,959 Speaker 1: really cool story. And in fact, there's a whole section 384 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: of the Segway story that we need to get into, 385 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,880 Speaker 1: which involves the whole hype issue and a little bit 386 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: more about the the original Segway models that came out 387 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,160 Speaker 1: and uh and some controversy that Segue has had over 388 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: the years. We'll talk about that in just a minute, 389 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: but first, before we do that, let's take a quick 390 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: moment to thank our sponsor. Let's segue back into our episode. 391 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: I couldn't resist, and so just a few more facts 392 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: about the original Segue. Keep in mind, they've made several 393 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 1: different models over the course of the segway's life. But 394 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: the earlier ones they had a top speed of about 395 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: twelve and a half miles per hour, which is around 396 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: twenty kilometers per hour, right, I think, and I think 397 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: in some other countries it was maybe thirteen and a half. 398 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: But but yes, yeah, yeah, it all depended on well, 399 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: I also depend on what which model you had, because 400 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,159 Speaker 1: they did, they did do a range of them. We 401 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: have an article on our site how the segue works, 402 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: and that one we specifically looked at the segue HT, 403 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: which was one of the earlier models. UM. It required 404 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 1: about six hours of charging, it had a range of 405 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: around seventeen miles, which was about twenty eight kilos and UM. 406 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: The current segues are called PT, which stands for Personal Transporter, 407 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: and they have a whole line of them that do 408 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,880 Speaker 1: different things for for for like city travel versus off roads, 409 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: versus security purposes. But they've got one specifically for golf courses. Yep, 410 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: they've got somewhere They have like all these containers on 411 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,199 Speaker 1: them so that you can carry stuff so if you 412 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: have to transport things. Granted, none of them are going 413 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: to replace the minivan, So soccer moms are not going 414 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 1: to be able to I mean, I guess you could 415 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: maybe tie a couple of of uh red wagons behind 416 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: and just like like a mama duck. I was really 417 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: waiting for you to say, like small children to the handlebars, 418 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,200 Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't think that. I wouldn't. 419 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: I wouldn't advocate that. I wouldn't advocate that. I wouldn't 420 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: advocate the wagons actually either, that would be a disaster. 421 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: But anyway, Um, the the motors of those early segues 422 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: had about two horsepower worth of power and had a 423 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: two stage transmission with a twenty four to one gear 424 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 1: ratio with a helical gear assembly and it was actually 425 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: a harmonic assembly. Yeah. They engineered it so that the 426 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: sounds that the two meshes in the gearbox would were 427 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,880 Speaker 1: exactly two octaves apart, so they would harmonize. Yeah, it's 428 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: kind of interesting. Some might say crazy. Um it weighed 429 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 1: the original the HT the one that we talked about 430 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: in our article, weighed about eighty three pounds, which is 431 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: about thirty eight kilograms, and it could carry a person 432 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: of up to two hundred sixty pounds, which is about 433 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: hundred eighteen kilograms or for my friends in England eighteen 434 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: and a half stone. Uh. It had two lithium ion 435 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: batteries to supply power recharge obviously you wouldn't want to 436 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: have to PLoP out a different battery every fifteen to 437 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: seventeen miles or so um. And it used an electronic 438 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: key system with a hundred twenty eight bit encrypted digital code, 439 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: So you had this key that would plug into It's 440 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: sort of like a little like like flash drive, except 441 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: you wouldn't have called it that then, because right, you 442 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: would have called it, well, you could have called it 443 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: that then they'd had to flash at that point, but 444 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: it really wasn't. But it was a digital key that 445 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: as a hundred twenty eight bit encrypted code on it, 446 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: so that the segue will only work with that code 447 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: and you don't have to worry about someone not necessarily 448 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: not have to worry about it. But if someone did 449 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: run off with your segue, they couldn't use it. They 450 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: would have to literally lift it up and move it away, 451 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: which kind of defeats the point. Right. So that's that's 452 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: the that's the basic model that we talked about in 453 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: our in our not our podcasts our article, But there 454 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: are quite a few other ones that are out now. 455 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 1: Like I said, there's a The Eye two, which is 456 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: your basic normal terrain segue, and then there's two which 457 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: is the the off Road next to Adventure X to 458 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:51,959 Speaker 1: Adventure off Road Travel. Yeah, and they've even got some 459 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 1: that were you know, they worked with DARPA to to 460 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,719 Speaker 1: design a kind of segue that was used as a 461 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,479 Speaker 1: platform for robotics. UM. They've worked they've created different models 462 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: like three wheeled and four wheeled vehicles based on the 463 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: seguae technology UM for various things. Here in Atlanta, we 464 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: have Atlanta Ambassadors. These are people who are in downtown 465 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,200 Speaker 1: Atlanta who often help out during big events, like when 466 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: when something's going on downtown and and uh, you know 467 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: there's gonna be a lot of people there. Uh. These 468 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: folks are there to kind of help give directions and 469 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: and you know, someone's like, hey, I'm looking for the 470 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,119 Speaker 1: Georgia Aquarium. Where do I go from here? I was, Oh, 471 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: you need to walk down this two blocks and take 472 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: a left, that kind of thing. A lot of them 473 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: have segways, so I see them whenever I'm downtown for 474 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 1: you know, Dragon con St Patrick's day parade, which uh, 475 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: at the time of this recording will be in just 476 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: a couple of days. Um so, but they they have them. 477 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: I've seen them in airports a lot of airports, have 478 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,920 Speaker 1: I seen, especially airports security on these. I've seen police 479 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 1: on these. Yeah. They were big at the Beijing Olympics 480 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,160 Speaker 1: in two In fact, I want to say a that, 481 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: um that the most I well, I think the most 482 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,880 Speaker 1: I ever saw at one point was actually at Epcot because, 483 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: like I said, Epcot Center, Uh not Epcot Center. They 484 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: used to be called Epcot Center. I was there when 485 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: it opened, because as Lauren has pointed out numerous times, 486 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: I'm old, but I remember going to Epcot and seeing 487 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: people on these and that was probably the first time 488 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: I saw him in person. But go back to when 489 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: it was unveiled, or even before it was unveiled. Cayman 490 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: actually came up with the idea in the late nineties, 491 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: like and he had this idea of creating devices that 492 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: could operate on pedestrian sidewalks and paths. And in two 493 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: thousand one, the company that would become Segue broke ground 494 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: on its manufacturing plant in New Hampshire, which is where 495 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,199 Speaker 1: Dean Cayman's from. Yeah. They they broke ground in February, 496 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: and I think completed it in November. Yep YEP ran 497 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,679 Speaker 1: in November December, and they adopted the name Segue in 498 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: December two thousand one. And that's actually when they unveiled 499 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: the Segue, the first models of it on Good Morning America, 500 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: a television program that's kind of a news oriented television 501 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: program here in the United States. And I actually saw this. 502 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,720 Speaker 1: I saw the unveiling episode. You stayed home, stayed home 503 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: from work. I didn't stay home from work. I delayed leaving. 504 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: Uh Am I going to get in trouble. I mean, 505 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: I haven't worked for this company in years. Two thousand one, 506 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: I was not working for How Stuff Works, I was 507 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: I was not here. I was working for a totally 508 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: different company. I did drag my feet leaving the house 509 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: that morning because I knew that this was happening everywhere 510 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 1: in the news. It had been that there was going 511 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: to be this incredible, incredible device. And it had two 512 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: code names that I recall off top of my head. 513 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: One was it right all caps it and then the 514 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,440 Speaker 1: other one was Nice Pennywise. The other one was Tim 515 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: Curry was the television adaptation. Um Stephen King. The second 516 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: one was Ginger Ginger, Yeah, and that was it was. 517 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: It had been code named Ginger based on the fact 518 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: that the wheelchair that Decca had designed earlier was called 519 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: Fred upstairs within the lab based on Fred a stair 520 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: because they were they were saying that it just dances 521 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:18,840 Speaker 1: right up the stairs, and there was a wheelchair that 522 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: could climb stairs. Fred and then Ginger and so and 523 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,360 Speaker 1: so Ginger Ginger could do everything Fred could do backwards 524 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: in heels. So not that the segue necessarily did, but 525 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: I it's just one of my favorite little quotes. Um 526 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: um but but but so a journalist had started writing 527 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: this book called Code Named Ginger, and it was leaked 528 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: at the beginning of two thousand one, I think by 529 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: Inside dot com. And this is I think what really 530 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,399 Speaker 1: created all of this insane hype, because it was the 531 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: book took such pains to not talk specifically about what 532 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: this machine did that was going to change the world, 533 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: and you got these quotes from people like like Steve 534 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: Jobs that were like, this is this is going to 535 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,200 Speaker 1: be bigger than the PC again without it actually revealing 536 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: what it was. Is that the people who had found 537 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: out about it, said it was going to be this 538 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: phenomenal technology that was going to fundamentally change the way 539 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,200 Speaker 1: we live, and and it was built up so much. 540 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: I mean, hype is seems like a like a good 541 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: thing hypothetically. Well, well, I was going to say that 542 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: hype is probably not even strong enough at a word, 543 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: considering that, you know, the deliverables that were being promised 544 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: on based on this technology that no one outside of 545 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 1: a very small group of people had any knowledge about. 546 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 1: People were saying that that cities were going to be 547 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: redesigned around this thing, and and that it was going 548 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: to be bigger than the Internet. Yeah, and then Good 549 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: Morning America had its unveiling and before the show, I 550 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: remember like days before the show aired, Uh, there were 551 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,040 Speaker 1: already rumors that it was going to be some sort 552 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: of motorized scooter device. And this was based off patents 553 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: that had been filed, as well as Dean Cayman's previous 554 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: work with the wheelchairs and things of that nature. And 555 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,760 Speaker 1: so when it actually happened, like I was hoping at 556 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: the time that it wasn't going to end up being 557 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: a scooter because I was thinking, like, if it's something 558 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: totally different. That's gonna be awesome. If it's a scooter, 559 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,880 Speaker 1: it still could be awesome, but it's gonna be and 560 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: it's not going to be as cool as if it 561 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: were something totally out of left field. And then I 562 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: saw it and I thought, well, that's interesting, but is 563 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: it really going to change the world? And I understood 564 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: what what they were going for. They were saying that, 565 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,720 Speaker 1: you know, especially in cities, particularly in cities, which is 566 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: where the majority of people tend to live. Not that 567 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: not that there aren't plenty of people out in rural area. 568 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: Population density, yeah, yeah, you've got very dense populations in 569 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: cities that traffic is a real problem. You've got people 570 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: who are getting in their cars to go relatively short 571 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: distances to do basic stuff like here in Atlanta. Uh, 572 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: there's We mentioned the traffic on the show about once 573 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: every other episode, and not just traffic though I was 574 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: going to say that we don't have like our public 575 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: transportation system is not doesn't measure up to public transportation 576 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: systems and some other cities like DC or New York 577 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: or Chicago. Um, now we do have one and and 578 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: you can use it, but it's just not ideal. It's 579 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: not doesn't run as frequently as some other cities, and 580 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: it doesn't exactly. So that means that if you want 581 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: to get around Atlanta and you want to do it effectively, 582 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: you pretty much have to have a car. And the 583 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: idea was that for cities like Atlanta and other cities 584 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: that have similar issues, the segue could end up allowing 585 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: you to go further than you would if you were 586 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: on foot, uh, and not clog up all the streets. 587 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: So it would alleviate traffic problems. It would start because 588 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: as an electric vehicle, it does not actually generate any 589 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: any greenhouse gases or toxins. Although you could argue that 590 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 1: depending on how the electricity was generated, that's still a problem. 591 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: It's just not being created by the vehicle itself. It's 592 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: not directed a couple steps, yeah, exactly. Um, but that 593 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: would also be a thing, and that it would uh, 594 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: you know, it could. It could really be a big benefit. 595 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: But for that to work, you have to have an 596 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,240 Speaker 1: infrastructure that supports that kind of transportation. At the very 597 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: least bike lanes or or really wide sidewalks, really wid sidewalks. 598 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: One of the big things that that Decca and Sege 599 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: we're trying to do was create legislature that would allow 600 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: the segue to to go on sidewalks. They had huge 601 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: pushback from a lot of communities. I think that it's 602 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: that they're banned entirely on sidewalks in the UK. Maybe 603 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:38,840 Speaker 1: in some places they are, I know in some cities. 604 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: They definitely are very state by state and municipality by municipality. 605 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: It probably doesn't surprise you to know that the first 606 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 1: state to legalize the segue on pedestrian sidewalks was in 607 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,480 Speaker 1: back New Hampshire, where the segue was located. It was 608 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: that that was passed into law on February two thousand two. 609 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: Uh and uh. And it wasn't until November eighteenth, two 610 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: thousand two that segways on sale to the public for 611 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,080 Speaker 1: the first time on Amazon dot Com. Beyond that, you've 612 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: got like two thousand five was when Disney World was 613 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: introducing the Around the World at Epcot Segue Tour. So 614 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: for those who have not been to Epcot, it's divided 615 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: into two big sections. You have the Future World section 616 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: where it's all about energy and transportation and the things 617 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: that are going to be important to us in the 618 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: years to come, and kind of the innovations that we 619 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 1: can expect, or maybe even stuff that you know is 620 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,920 Speaker 1: really far out there, maybe it will never happen. Yeah. 621 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,400 Speaker 1: The other one is the World Showcase, which has it's 622 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: almost like a permanent World's Fair. It has a has 623 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 1: different pavilions that represent various countries in the world, and 624 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,400 Speaker 1: they are the around the World Segue Tour was a 625 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: Segue tour that would take you around the World Showcase, 626 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: and it was like a two hour long tour, and 627 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: it would allow you to start to explore the World 628 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,680 Speaker 1: Showcase a couple of hours before it was open to 629 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: the general public. Because the way that Epcot works, or 630 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 1: at least it used to I assume it still does, 631 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: is when the doors would open, meaning that when they 632 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 1: would let you into the park, you could only go 633 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: into the Future World part. For the first couple of hours, 634 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: the World Showcase would be held off. And like like 635 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 1: if the park opens at eight am, then the World 636 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: Showcase should open at ten. So this tour would allow 637 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 1: you to go through the World Showcase at eight am, 638 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: so you don't have to worry about running down Jimmy 639 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: who isn't paying attention because he wants a Mickey Mouse 640 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: doll right. Yeah, Disney is actually banned the use of 641 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: segways other than in their tours. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Yeah. 642 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: One of the problems that it's had with all of 643 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: this is that m segways are not technically graded for 644 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: medical use. Um they are, although they can help people 645 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: with disabilities move from one place to another because because 646 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: Decca worked with Johnson and Johnson on some of their 647 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:54,120 Speaker 1: um some of the gyroscopic platform technology, Johnson and Johnson 648 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 1: actually owns that copyright and for for medical use and interesting, Yeah, 649 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: I did not know that didn't come up in my research. 650 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: I know that on September fourteenth, two thousand and six, 651 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 1: they actually issued a recall for twenty three thousand segways 652 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,319 Speaker 1: and that was that was all of them at that 653 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: at that time because there was a software glitch, and 654 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,319 Speaker 1: that software glitch would cause the wheels to occasionally and 655 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 1: spontaneously reverse direction, which obviously that would be a bad thing. 656 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:23,359 Speaker 1: I mean, imagine if you're writing on it and you're 657 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,839 Speaker 1: not strapped into this thing, which you're not. Yeah, well, 658 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 1: it's like the way I explained it to people, as 659 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: I imagine you're walking down down the street and then 660 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 1: suddenly the ground underneath you shifts direction to opposite the way. 661 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 1: You know, you would end up on your back pretty quickly. 662 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,279 Speaker 1: And uh, in fact, there were people who fell off 663 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 1: the segway, which you know, when when I was first introduced, 664 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: that was one of the big things that they were 665 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:46,080 Speaker 1: saying that, you know, because of all the gyroscopes would 666 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 1: be really not that would be impossible, but it would 667 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 1: be hard. But then with this software glitch you know, 668 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 1: made it very easy to fall off a segue if 669 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,760 Speaker 1: it happened, and in fact, people ended up getting some injuries, 670 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 1: like some broken wrists and things like that. There was 671 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:02,840 Speaker 1: a smaller recall back in A two thousand three because 672 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,120 Speaker 1: when the charge got too low, the segway would just 673 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:09,120 Speaker 1: stop very abruptly and they had to you start tumbling 674 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: off the same sort of thing. Um, I know that 675 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: in in two thousand nine, Dean came and ended up 676 00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 1: selling the company and he sold it to Jim Hesseldon 677 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: last name, I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing correctly. I'm 678 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 1: not sure as Jimmy Jimmy in the UK, who's a 679 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,320 Speaker 1: guy who was a businessman and a philanthropist, really really 680 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: known for his philanthropic endeavors, and tragically, in September he 681 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 1: Hesselden died in an accident. He actually he was on 682 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,839 Speaker 1: a segway and he ended up falling off the edge 683 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,319 Speaker 1: of a cliff in a wooded area. He was in 684 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,240 Speaker 1: one of the off road segways and supposedly he encountered 685 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,360 Speaker 1: a walker on a path and uh and reversed to 686 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,240 Speaker 1: get out of the walker's way and templed over. Oh 687 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: I did not, I didn't see that. That's that's that's 688 00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,200 Speaker 1: kind of unconfirmed. I think that I read that on 689 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: like on like or something. Yeah, So anyway, it was 690 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: a tragic accident. It was a terrible thing, and uh, 691 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,360 Speaker 1: you know, I cannot say for certain, but I have 692 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: a feeling that that was part of what prompted segue 693 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,279 Speaker 1: to uh inserts. So if you go to visit the 694 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:19,320 Speaker 1: segway website, a little segway safety pop up will appear 695 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,880 Speaker 1: and tell you that, you know, you need to review 696 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: the safety procedures of and know how to write a 697 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 1: segue in order for you to operate one safely. And 698 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,040 Speaker 1: so there's a there's an actual pop up that will 699 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 1: obscure your view of the segue website until you you know, 700 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,240 Speaker 1: dismiss it. And um, they even have a full video 701 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,319 Speaker 1: that explains, you know, how the segway works and the 702 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:44,959 Speaker 1: best way to operate it safely so that you don't 703 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 1: end up injuring yourself. Um. And on February, Segue was 704 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: acquired by Summit Strategic Investments l C, which is the 705 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:58,959 Speaker 1: current company that owns the brand. And uh, yeah, that's 706 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 1: that's kind of where we are now, just just a 707 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: few Actually, on this March sixth they announced the development 708 00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:07,840 Speaker 1: of a three wheel security device from planned to be 709 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,960 Speaker 1: coming out in Q four, uh this this year. Um 710 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,560 Speaker 1: and yeah, I mean, you know, so it's a reading 711 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: all about this kind of broke my heart because because 712 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 1: Caman was so passionate about how this this terrific device 713 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:25,680 Speaker 1: could really change the world and change people's lives and 714 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 1: change our city escapes for the better. And it fizzled 715 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: so much. You know, it's we we talked about how 716 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: a company debuted in two thousand two, they started selling 717 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: the things. In two thousand six, they had only sold 718 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: three thousand units. They were hoping to have been selling 719 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: forty thousand per year. Um, and you know, a lot 720 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: of things happened. It was. It's been a tough time 721 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,759 Speaker 1: the past decade or so for consumer right. Yeah, you've 722 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: had economic downturns, We've had resistance on the part of 723 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: many municipalities to allow the segue to travel along things 724 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 1: like walks. There's also other just practical considerations. I mean, 725 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,879 Speaker 1: obviously a segue is great if you happen to live 726 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: in a place where the climate is nice and mild. 727 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:11,160 Speaker 1: But if you are in a place that gets a 728 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:13,440 Speaker 1: lot of rain, segways not You're not going to be 729 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,719 Speaker 1: covered in the rain. You're gonna actually be out there, 730 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 1: and depending upon the segways made, it may not operate 731 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,440 Speaker 1: so well in the rain after a while, or you know, 732 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: like I've hung out in New Hampshire, there are many 733 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,440 Speaker 1: months in New Hampshire that I would not want to be. Yeah, 734 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: So there's there's lots of reasons why the segway adoption 735 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:31,560 Speaker 1: may have been slower, and I think the main one 736 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,760 Speaker 1: is just that, you know, we were so far along 737 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:38,080 Speaker 1: in the infrastructure that we rely on already, Like we're 738 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: so dependent upon a certain way for our cities to 739 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: to work, for us to get around and comfortably that 740 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 1: to expect a change in that is a little on 741 00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,640 Speaker 1: the optimistic side. It would require a huge amount of effort, 742 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: time and money, and and when I say a huge 743 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,840 Speaker 1: amount of time, I'm talking decades to really refit a 744 00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:58,800 Speaker 1: city in such a way. So it would be ideal 745 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 1: for using something like a segway, particularly if you're in 746 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:05,799 Speaker 1: a city that has a actually a fairly healthy pedestrian population, 747 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,000 Speaker 1: healthy and is in there are a lot of people 748 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: out there walking right right, not necessarily that they're all 749 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,000 Speaker 1: in great health. Atlanta not so great for pedestrians, t 750 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:17,399 Speaker 1: I would say, I mean pedestrians. We have very few 751 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 1: sidewalks outside of our main metropolitan areas. And you know, 752 00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:22,200 Speaker 1: that's the other thing with these segways is that I 753 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: think that the concept was always for them to be 754 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,799 Speaker 1: secondary to a car, to like, have a car and 755 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,839 Speaker 1: then have the segway in it, and you know, park 756 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: the car somewhere and then take the segway out and 757 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,000 Speaker 1: go about your business, right, Or if you happen to live, like, 758 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,080 Speaker 1: you know, two miles away from a market, then you 759 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 1: can just for that. Sure. But you know, but when 760 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 1: these units cost over five grand to pop, yeah, and 761 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,759 Speaker 1: they weigh almost a hundred pounds, you know, that's it's 762 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,600 Speaker 1: not easy to carry them around. Yeah, that's that's that's 763 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: one of me. So that's you know, yeah, that's right, 764 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 1: Like okay, So anyway, I'm just depressed now because I'm 765 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: thinking about how much weight I need to lose before 766 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,000 Speaker 1: I come close to being a segway. Um. But anyway, yeah, 767 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,239 Speaker 1: there there are a lot of There are a lot 768 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:05,520 Speaker 1: of reasons. I think that that explained why the segue 769 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: did not become the thing of the future. It was 770 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:12,759 Speaker 1: certainly an incredible innovation. It was a really interesting, uh 771 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:18,239 Speaker 1: engineering feat. I've seen similar products come out that are 772 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,480 Speaker 1: based on the same general principles as the segue. Some 773 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,920 Speaker 1: of them are things like motorized roller skates or a 774 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,120 Speaker 1: motorized skateboard kind of thing. Um, Honda came out with 775 00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 1: a unicycle looking sort of thing that that that works 776 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:33,960 Speaker 1: on a similar basis, and I think that Toyota or 777 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 1: I mean, they didn't come out with it. It's in prototype. 778 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: I've seen him a CEOs, I've seen a motorized essentially 779 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:42,920 Speaker 1: it's a motorized unicycle that you stand on and again, 780 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,080 Speaker 1: just like with the segue, you would lean forward to 781 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:47,880 Speaker 1: indicate that you want to move forward, and I remember 782 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,520 Speaker 1: hearing that it takes about thirty to forty five minutes 783 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: to kind of acclimate yourself to it to where you 784 00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:57,239 Speaker 1: can comfortably maneuver through an environment. Say, I don't know, 785 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 1: a giant conference room that's filled with hundreds of thousands 786 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,879 Speaker 1: of people like cees just example, if I had been 787 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: on there, I would have probably mangled at least forty 788 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 1: or fifty people before I actually, no, let's be fair, 789 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,839 Speaker 1: I probably would have run over myself. And yeah, yeah, 790 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,439 Speaker 1: and you know, hypothetically, and these things only go twelve 791 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: point five miles an hour, um, and that that is 792 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,360 Speaker 1: on purpose. They have a speed limitter in them. That's 793 00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,560 Speaker 1: that's the issue that caused the recall back in two 794 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:28,959 Speaker 1: thousand six. The speed limitter was was malfunctioning. Um. Yeah, 795 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,120 Speaker 1: so I mean it's you know, there were definitely ideas 796 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:36,360 Speaker 1: to uh to really uh to really uh to to 797 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,400 Speaker 1: make it as useful as possible and limit the possible 798 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: malfunctions or injuries that could happen when people start using 799 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:45,320 Speaker 1: a technology that as a brand new mode of transportation. 800 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,520 Speaker 1: Mean obviously have to take those things into account. Um, 801 00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: you know what, I don't know what the future of 802 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 1: segu is going to be I don't know if it's 803 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 1: ever going to be anything other than kind of a 804 00:41:54,960 --> 00:42:00,560 Speaker 1: curiosity or used in a very specific niche uh, you cases, 805 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 1: things like the Atlanta Ambassadors or airport security or whatever. 806 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: Maybe it never goes beyond that, but it really does 807 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:11,399 Speaker 1: show a pretty incredible sense of engineering and design. Yeah, 808 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:13,680 Speaker 1: and I'm really hoping that this new company that's taken 809 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: over is going to have some cool ideas. Yeah. Yeah, 810 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,040 Speaker 1: I expect we'll see even more development on it, and 811 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: who knows, maybe one of these days will actually go 812 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:23,640 Speaker 1: for another spin on one of these things. It was 813 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:25,799 Speaker 1: actually a lot of fun and I would enjoy doing 814 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 1: it again. So anyway, guys, if you have any suggestions 815 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:31,400 Speaker 1: for future episodes of tech Stuff, I highly recommend you 816 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,640 Speaker 1: get in touch with us. Our email address is tech 817 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: stuff at Discovery dot com, or you can get in 818 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:38,680 Speaker 1: touch with us on Facebook or Twitter or handle at 819 00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:42,080 Speaker 1: both of those locations is text Stuff hs W Lauren 820 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:48,360 Speaker 1: and I will talk to you again really soon for 821 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,759 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics. Does it 822 00:42:50,840 --> 00:43:00,800 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com