British inventor Richard Browning lifted off from the shore of Vancouver Harbor on Thursday in a personal flight suit that inspired references to comic superhero 'Iron Man.'
Using thrusters attached to his arms and back, Browning flew in a circle and hovered a short distance from the ground, captivating attendees at a prestigious TED Conference.
The personal flight suit is capable of propeling wearers much higher and faster, according to its creators.
"The hypothesis was that the human mind and body, if properly augmented, could achieve some pretty cool stuff," the extreme athlete and engineer said at the gathering a short time earlier.
Browning told of experimenting with various numbers and arrays of essentially miniature jet engines on his limbs.
Along the way, he said, there were more than a few crashes to the ground.
"The whole journey was about trying and failing, and learning from that," Browning said.
The first reasonably stable, six-second flight with the gear inspired his team to press on.
His startup, Gravity, formally debuted about a month ago with an early-version suit called Daedalus.
(Score: 2) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Saturday April 29 2017, @05:13PM (5 children)
"The hypothesis was that the human mind and body, if properly augmented, could achieve some pretty cool stuff,"
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 29 2017, @05:25PM (4 children)
You mean cool stuff besides transmitting these words across the world faster than even the god Mercury himself could have done? Where are the scribes?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday April 29 2017, @05:41PM (3 children)
Technology you've never seen before is amazing, akin to magic.
Technology you've lived with all your life is boring, akin to the sun rising in the east.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 29 2017, @06:25PM (2 children)
Speak for yourself. Radio technology is older than I am, but I'm still amazed every time I turn on a radio, because I know how it all works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 29 2017, @06:32PM (1 child)
Where do they hide all the musicians?
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday April 29 2017, @06:45PM
And how do they fit inside that small box? don't they need to come out to eat?