Skip to main content

This inflatable e-bike is easily the most ridiculous product of 2020

 

You’re probably familiar with the concept of a folding bike, which can be used by commuters as a mode of transport when required but can just as easily fold up and be carried under one arm or stowed under a seat when it’s not. The creators of a project called Poimo (POrtable and Inflatable MObility), developed at Japan’s Tokyo University, have come up with a somewhat wackier version of this — and it involves an inflatable scooter.

Recommended Videos

The scooter itself is created from durable drop stitch fabric, with seven inflatable sections, including the wheels. The idea is that the user simply blows up Poimo, adds the rigid components like brushless motor, and they’re ready to zip down the streets of Tokyo on their inflated hog as if they’re starring in a balloon animal version of Akira.

Digital Trends covered the project for the first time earlier this year. However, since then the folks behind it have continued to develop their prototype. In one of their recent updates, they’ve come up with a way to customize each vehicle by allowing would-be owners to submit images of themselves in their ideal seating position. The team then builds a 3D computer model of the scooter that fits the specifications of the rider (such as their speed requirements, balance preferences, and more), and their desired riding pose. They would then be able to have it manufactured according to their unique spec — or, at least, they will if it advances to commercialization.

“The biggest advantage of inflatable mobility is that it can be small when you’re not using it and large when you are,” Hiroki Sato, director of the inflatable mobility project, told Digital Trends. “As long as you have an inflator, you can get around comfortably on the road [for short journeys], and because the vehicle is made of fabric, it’s easy to create a shape that suits your individual needs. We’re also hoping it will be cheaper to manufacture than metal [vehicles].”

Inflatable wheelchair
The University of Tokyo and Mercari R4D

Sato said that there is currently no specific date when this might be available to purchase. However, the team is working with partners on demo experiments and productization. It seems that the team’s ambitions go beyond inflated bikes, too.

“Our target is not only bike users,” Sato said. “For example, for wheelchair users, it’s important that the wheelchair fits their body … We believe that being able to make [or] choose mobility that fits the user’s individual circumstances or preferences is important for an inclusive society.”

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
This modular Pebble and Apple Watch underdog just smashed funding goals
UNA Watch

Both the Pebble Watch and Apple Watch are due some fierce competition as a new modular brand, UNA, is gaining some serous backing and excitement.

The UNA Watch is the creation of a Scottish company that wants to give everyone modular control of smartwatch upgrades and repairs.

Read more
Tesla, Warner Bros. dodge some claims in ‘Blade Runner 2049’ lawsuit, copyright battle continues
Tesla Cybercab at night

Tesla and Warner Bros. scored a partial legal victory as a federal judge dismissed several claims in a lawsuit filed by Alcon Entertainment, a production company behind the 2017 sci-fi movie Blade Runner 2049, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit accused the two companies of using imagery from the film to promote Tesla’s autonomous Cybercab vehicle at an event hosted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Studios in Hollywood in October of last year.
U.S. District Judge George Wu indicated he was inclined to dismiss Alcon’s allegations that Tesla and Warner Bros. violated trademark law, according to Reuters. Specifically, the judge said Musk only referenced the original Blade Runner movie at the event, and noted that Tesla and Alcon are not competitors.
"Tesla and Musk are looking to sell cars," Reuters quoted Wu as saying. "Plaintiff is plainly not in that line of business."
Wu also dismissed most of Alcon's claims against Warner Bros., the distributor of the Blade Runner franchise.
However, the judge allowed Alcon to continue its copyright infringement claims against Tesla for its alleged use of AI-generated images mimicking scenes from Blade Runner 2049 without permission.
Alcan says that just hours before the Cybercab event, it had turned down a request from Tesla and WBD to use “an icononic still image” from the movie.
In the lawsuit, Alcon explained its decision by saying that “any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk’s massively amplified, highly politicized, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account.”
Alcon further said it did not want Blade Runner 2049 “to be affiliated with Musk, Tesla, or any Musk company, for all of these reasons.”
But according to Alcon, Tesla went ahead with feeding images from Blade Runner 2049 into an AI image generator to yield a still image that appeared on screen for 10 seconds during the Cybercab event. With the image featured in the background, Musk directly referenced Blade Runner.
Alcon also said that Musk’s reference to Blade Runner 2049 was not a coincidence as the movie features a “strikingly designed, artificially intelligent, fully autonomous car.”

Read more
Apple TV+ just got a price slash that’s tough to resist, and it won’t last long
The Apple TV main screen.

Apple has just quietly announced that it will be slashing the price on its Apple TV+ offering for a limited time deal.

While Apple prices the service at a standard $9.99 per month usually, it has just cut that way down to $2.99 per month.

Read more