🛵 Honda's mind-controlled scooter, Jet suit race debuts, Teen's Archimedes Death Ray

Japanese automotive giant Honda will unveil a unique extended reality (XR) experience at the upcoming SXSW 2024 event in Austin this March by combining personal mobility with virtual reality (VR). Central to this experience is the new Honda UNI-ONE, a hands-free mobility device for single users. Learn more about how the new scooter works by reading today’s Must Read.

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MUST READ

🛵 Honda unveils mind-controlled scooter, a hands-free VR mobility device

Honda is set to unveil the UNI-ONE for the first time in the U.S. The personal mobility device uses self-balancing technology and is driven completely hands-free. Sensors in the device detect the postural movements of the rider and estimate whether they intend to stay in a place or move in a certain direction at a certain speed.

The company’s proprietary wheel mechanism powers the personal mobility device dubbed the Honda Omni Traction Drive System (HOT Drive System). The UNI-ONE uses two units of the HOT Drive System to deliver smooth mobility in any direction.

The battery-powered system has a maximum speed of 3.7 miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour and a maximum user weight capacity of 242 pounds (109 kilograms).

🦸🏽 Iron Man-style jet suit racers compete in world’s first race in Dubai

The roaring sounds of the jet engines and the high skyline in the backdrop are not new for Dubai, the city that hosts one of the busiest airports in the world. Yet, Wednesday (February 28) was a special occasion because the jet engines were not on massive airplanes but on human pilots who also doubled up as the race vehicle.

The event was possible due to the ingenuity of Gravity Industries. This UK-based company has been pioneering human flight. In 2017, the company unveiled its first jet suit, and since then, it has demonstrated its technology at more than 260 live events in 45 countries.

Equipped with 1,500 horsepower, these suits pack more power than a high-end sports car and use jet fuel, much like regular airplanes; when the participants took off from the starting point, they looked like multiple people in Iron Man suits. 

🧮 Teen builds Archimedes’ ‘Death Ray’ to see if it can set boats on fire

Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician and physicist who lived in the 3rd century BCE, is perhaps best known for discovering the principles of buoyancy – the Archimedes Principle.

He also invented various machines and devices, including the screw pump and the compound pulley system. Historians are divided over another invention of his, called the ‘Archimedes Death Ray.’ Is it a legendary concept or a historical invention?

While the historians debate, a 13-year-old Canadian took matters into his own hands. Brenden Sener, a middle school student, conceived a science fair project to investigate the feasibility of a miniature version of the Archimedes “death ray” and concluded that the design was ‘plausible.’

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