Have you ever had the disconcerting experience of having someone come flying past you on a monowheel skateboard? I think the 'disconcerting' part comes from how relatively quiet they are, at least as compared to old-school skateboards and longboards. When someone comes shushing past you down a sidewalk (or in the street) on a monowheel, it's in many ways a more surprising experience.
Now, imagine for a moment what would happen if someone took that concept and made it into a vehicle that the rider saddles up and rides like a motorbike. Only, instead of just one wheel, it has so many more, and they all cooperate to operate what looks kind of like a big yoga ball to actually make contact with the ground and move the rider around.
The saddle, incidentally, still looks an awful lot like a motorbike saddle. And for what it's worth, the handlebar situation that inventor James Bruton came up with to steer this contraption resembles one found on a motorbike, as well. Technically, it's powered by a motor...but perhaps the word 'bike' isn't quite right here. Multiwheel Menace? Maybe (and I say that with both surprise and admiration, not aspersion).
It's yet another example of someone taking the previously unimaginable creative power afforded by advances in 3D printing materials and technology, and using it to successfully (for various values of 'successfully') bring a one-of-a-kind vehicle into being. Do you have any idea how many bearings are in this thing? Me neither, but there are SO MANY. Even more than there are wheels, and there are lots of those, too!
It's clear that it's a project that Bruton is still refining, and here's hoping he gets a helmet (hopefully a full-face one, since it seems like this particular creation is keen to make its rider faceplant at random) and some dirtbike armor, at the very least. The speeds aren't super fast yet, but it's clear you could still hurt yourself in reasonably gnarly ways on this thing while you're figuring it out.
What do you think, would you give it a go if you ever had the chance? The omnidirectionality of it would definitely take some getting used to. Testing it in a gym is probably a strong call, given the quality of the polished wood floor (and it's probably a bit more forgiving if you fall than a parking lot would be).
