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Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

ogotechnology.com

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Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#91

Post by bernardom »

scribu wrote: post #58
paulsutter wrote: post #28

This looks like a huge improvement over a wheelchair (have you ever tried the joystick control on an electric wheelchair?). Way better mobility. And it looks cool. Completely the opposite feeling of watching someone on a Segway, which could make even the coolest person look like a mall cop.

I agree and I think the cool factor comes from the fact that users of Ogo need it in order to move without their hands being tied up and also that it actually takes a bit of muscle effort to operate. Compare to Segways, which are associated with laziness (at least in my mind).

Not just your mind.

http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#92

Post by volkk »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #85
mfoy_ wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maaaaybe there would be heuristics that would interpret such wild movement as unhealthy and trigger a medical alert.

Can such a heuristic distinguish wild movement from basketball (as shown in the video)?

perhaps a "free movement" mode? (kinda like ABS on a car)

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#93

Post by bentpins »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #69

One downside I can see for this: it looks like, if the user had a seizure, it would be extremely dangerous. It would keep them in the seat but interpret their movements as erratic hard accelerations and sharp turns.

I wonder if it's possible to detect a seizure through vitals.

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#94

Post by jdsullivan »

agentgt wrote: post #83

I wonder if they have any plans on dealing with stairs. Honestly I think the arm freedom is a big deal so I think they could come up with some novel ideas for stairs or other terrain. Bipedal movement (or I guess any number of legs) is impressive in that it can handle a variety of terrain. A trite and cheesy observation... it seems we are trying to make machines learn to walk and humans learn to roll :) All in all I…

The iBot was able to "walk" up and down stairs: http://www.dekaresearch.com/ibot.shtml

In retrospect, it's a bit surprising they never enhanced it to operate hands free like this - it was made by the same folks as the segway and feels like a natural evolution.

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#95

Post by bluedino »

The market for devices like these is a joke. You fall into two categories, expensive and not that well designed, and inexpensive and very cheaply made overseas.

The problem you need to solve is getting the insurance companies and Medicare to pay for your device. You need lobbying and certifications and all that bureaucracy. No matter how mediocre your product is, you can then sell it like hotcakes.

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#96

Post by acjohnson55 »

openasocket wrote: post #88
bpodgursky wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok... so are cars (in fact, they are much worse), but we survive somehow. I mean, I guess this is true, but being paralyzed usually does not mean you are unusually predisposed to seizures. This criticism kind of feels like hunting for problems.

people who regularly get seizures are not allowed to drive. The laws vary a lot by country and state and can be looked up here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_and_driving Most of the time the law is of the form "you must be seizure-free for months in order to drive"

Right, and I suppose one probably wouldn't buy this if they were prone to seizures, either. I presume there's enough of a disjunction between people with impaired mobility and seizure risk for that to not be such a big deal.

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#97

Post by agumonkey »

paulsutter wrote: post #28

This looks like a huge improvement over a wheelchair (have you ever tried the joystick control on an electric wheelchair?). Way better mobility. And it looks cool. Completely the opposite feeling of watching someone on a Segway, which could make even the coolest person look like a mall cop.

It does avoid bearing the medical equipment tag, the old tech metal cruft, disabled .. none of that comes to mind when I saw the video. It might help everybody forget about the condition and start acting normal again.

It feels slightly unsafe though, just a bit.

Re: Ogo, a new take on personal transportation

#98

Post by EvanKelly »

jdsullivan wrote: post #94
agentgt wrote: post #83

I wonder if they have any plans on dealing with stairs. Honestly I think the arm freedom is a big deal so I think they could come up with some novel ideas for stairs or other terrain. Bipedal movement (or I guess any number of legs) is impressive in that it can handle a variety of terrain. A trite and cheesy observation... it seems we are trying to make machines learn to walk and humans learn to roll :) All in all I…

The iBot was able to "walk" up and down stairs: http://www.dekaresearch.com/ibot.shtml In retrospect, it's a bit surprising they never enhanced it to operate hands free like this - it was made by the same folks as the segway and feels like a natural evolution.

I remember talking about the iBot with a wheelchair bound friend when it came out.

His response was "the people who designed this have obviously never been bound to a wheelchair". I think I was in 9th or 10th grade at the time, so I don't remember his reasoning, but I remember the disdain for the invention.

Any iBot users out there that could chime in?

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