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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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fliptop on Thursday October 27 2016, @01:38AM
They didn't include that in the demo. Can you even carry a couple-few bags of groceries on it?
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 27 2016, @05:28PM
No you can't, but they won't last long. They'll be sued into bankruptcy the first time someone falls off. And you know some kid is going to get stuck halfway up. Their product is ok as a proof of concept, but it has absolutely no commercial use as is.