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Prototype System Replaces Stairs and Elevators with Human Power

posted by martyb on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:04PM   Printer-friendly
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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  • (Score: 1) by zugedneb on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:56PM

    by zugedneb (4556) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:56PM (#419140)

    Is it not Asimov - Prelude to Foundation?

    Where the robot points out the lack of interest in the elevators in question as a possible sign of decline?

    sry for spoiler, but not much info in above line...

    --
    old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax

  • (Score: 2) by zugedneb on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:58PM

    by zugedneb (4556) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @08:58PM (#419142)

    sry, it was actually a bit of a spoiler.

    but anyways, i think book is: Asimov - Prelude to Foundation...

    --
    old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax

    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:01PM

      by edIII (791) on Wednesday October 26 2016, @10:01PM (#419172)

      That's okay. It was killing me that I couldn't remember. I don't remember reading the book you mentioned, but the little spoiler won't stop me :)

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.

  • (Score: 2) by t-3 on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:32PM

    by t-3 (4907) on Thursday October 27 2016, @02:32PM (#419419)

    Stranger in a Strange Land also had tube elevator things, but they were operated by martian magic.