Mobility

There are a few modes of transport you can always count on – cars, bikes, buses, trains – that sort of thing. But looking to disrupt these mainstays is a regular assortment of more imaginative options. Here are the wackiest of the 2019 crop.

Taking inspiration from the traditional cane, a team of researchers has come up with a LiDAR-enabled robotic assistant which offers light-touch support for the mobility-impaired. Dubbed Canine, the device improves the user's spacial self-awareness, and thus, their walking stability.

​We've seen a number of folding electric trikes over the years, including 2005's Rider, the adaptable Scuddy, the teeny Trikelet and the suitcase-sized eFoldi. That last one has just had a design refresh that sees it lose weight, gain speed and get a welcome range increase.​

In a bid to help those with limited mobility get to the gate, Tokyo Narita International Airport is set to welcome a number of self-driving wheelchairs to its floors. With the ability to navigate the airport all on their own, the new wheelchairs are hoped to streamline foot traffic.

Citroën’s latest solution to increasingly crowded urban centers and urban mobility is a boxy electric two-seater concept imagined as an alternative for buses, bikes and scooters, even for those without a license to drive.

Before coming back down to earth with the start of this week's NAIAS, the mobility industry spent some time in bright, blue sky at CES 2019. Forget cars ready to drive home off the lot, CES was focused on vessels and systems built to shift paradigms and solve emerging transportation issues.

​Launched in 2017, Toyota’s Mobility Unlimited Challenge is a global competition designed to inspire new technologies that change the lives of sufferers of lower limb paralysis. At CES in Las Vegas it has now unveiled the five finalists who will battle it out for the US$1 million grand prize.

Every now and then, an invention comes along that makes us wonder how we ever lived without it – but those are in the minority. New Atlas rounds up the weirdest and wackiest inventions that left us scratching our heads this year.

The FitCar PPV remains much more automobile than bicycle, but does encourage physical exertion on part of its owners through an interesting pedaling system that hooks up to the drivetrain.

A team of scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute has just presented its latest creation in the field of robotic exoskeletons, a fully wearable soft exosuit that automatically tweaks its level of assistance on the fly. ​

Tom Piszkin used to coach triathletes at UC San Diego, plus he sold bikes to students. The latter showed him "the mobility challenges faced by students on campus." This prompted him to invent the JackRabbit electric "scooter," which is now the subject of a Kickstarter campaign.

Some BMW factory workers can walk up to 12 km (7.5 mi) a day, often lugging parts around with them. The company is exploring a new approach to workplace mobility, developing a Segway-like personal vehicle that lets employees glide across the factory floor.