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Prototype System Replaces Stairs and Elevators with Human Power

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:04PM   
from the must-be-empty-handed dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Humans are said to have evolved from an ancestor that once swung through the trees to get about, free to move through the environment in almost any direction. But today, in our modern high-rise environment, if you simply want to go up or down, it's probably fair to say we've actually devolved. Stairs, elevators, and lifts all take up precious space within buildings, and they're expensive, complicated, or require endless maintenance. Now a new human-powered system prototype dubbed Vertical Walking has been developed that requires just ten percent of the effort needed to climb stairs, but can easily move a person up a vast number of floors.

[...] Designed by the Rombaut Frieling lab in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Vertical Walking uses a system of upright rails that incorporate pulleys and a clever gripping system to allow a user to incrementally move between floors in a building. Claimed to require less than 10 percent of the effort needed to climb stairs, and with no other external energy input needed, the creators assert that the prototype has been successfully proven by a wide range of people, including an amputee and an MS sufferer.

A novel way to move between floors.

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Original Submission

• How does it move when empty? How does it move when empty? (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:47PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:47PM (#419138)

  It isn't clear how the chair is sent back down/up when it isn't on the same floor as the next user. This won't replace elevators or stair lifts for weak people, as their main problem is that they don't have the strength to move their weight, or more especially, their weight plus their motorized wheelchair. This doesn't seem to accommodate any sort of wheelchair.

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• Re:How does it move when empty? (Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday October 27 2016, @08:56AM

  by Nuke (3162) on Thursday October 27 2016, @08:56AM (#419329)

  It isn't clear how the chair is sent back down/up when it isn't on the same floor as the next user.

  I don't think it can, unless you add electric motors to do it, wiping out the supposed energy savings. You will need one of these devices for every person in the building - taking up more space than stairs. At least we will not need to put up with other people's vomit in the lift.

  Parent