Honda U3-X, 'Round the Office People Mover

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If you thought Segway was something, take a look at this... Honda introduced today its brand new personal mobility technology (short for "technology-for-people-who-are-too-lazy-to-use-their-feet-for-walking"). Dubbed the U3-X - cool name! -, this new person mover is the only one in the world able to do a 360 degrees movement. Honda dixit...

The U3-X, designed to be used in big offices, is self-balancing, so there's no need for you to reach out and grab the boss by his tie to prevent you from falling over. You can also notice the U3-X can be used as a chair, so now, for the entire eight to ten hours (the time you spend in your office), there's no need to get up, not even to go to the toilet: use the "chair," your spine will love you for it...

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Back to more serious stuff, the U3-X does have a bit of a pedigree. It uses Honda's balance control technology featured on the lovable ASIMO, so there's no quality problem here. Additionally, the Honda Omni Traction Drive System (HOT) makes possible movement in all directions, without actually turning the vehicle around itself (you can go left, right, front, back and diagonally while never taking your eyes off the aforemetioned boss and his tie, for instance).

"In addition, the compact, one-wheel-drive personal mobility device was designed to be user friendly and unimposing to people around it. This is achieved by making it easy for the rider to reach the ground from the footrest and by seating the rider at roughly the same eye level as a person standing," Honda said in a release. Let's take a moment an analyze this statement.

"Unimposing" – maybe is just us, but by looking at the videos below, we can't but be amazed of how similar the position of the body on the U3-X is with that of a constipated man (or woman) trying to take a...

"Same eye level" – true, yet useless. Imagine your boss standing, on his own two feet (with the tie and all) and giving you a hard time for the miserable job you are doing. You look him straight in the eyes, as the height of the U3-X allows you to. But...YOU ARE STILL SEATING DOWN! While your boss isn't... Rude.

Sure you may imagine a scenario when your boss uses the U3-X as well, but then...Really, how would you perceive a boss buzzing around the office looking like his seating on a toilet?

The U3-X will be displayed by Honda at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, this October. Buzz along!