poimo, an inflatable electric scooter that fits inside your backpack

poimo — portable and inflatable mobility — is a soft and transportable personal electric scooter that can be inflated with air. created in collaboration by kawahara lab / niiyama lab of the university of tokyo and mercari R4D of mercari, inc, poimo aims to redefine electric personal mobility by combining it with soft robotics.

images and video courtesy of poimo

poimo is not the first micro-mobility solution we’ve seen out there but it is certainly an intriguing one. with a total weight of 5.5kg, the scooter is so compact that it can be folded into an average-sized backpack. the design uses soft robotic technology, resulting in a device that is soft, safe and lightweight enough for people to carry and to allow users to ride it on and off anywhere. in order to reduce the overall weight, a wireless/batteryless powering system has been developed.

the poimo is made of a drop stitch material that is light and strong and although the scooter is still under development, it has been confirmed that it can support a person’s weight. the inflatable body is made from a thermoplastic polyurethane — the same strong material used in airbeds — where the independent components are attached: front and rear wheels; battery; electric motor; handlebars; and the wireless controller. the company says that the process of getting your scooter ready (inflating it and attaching its components) shouldn’t take more than five minutes.

‘we envision soft mobility, which is a new type of personal mobility made of soft, lightweight, and inflatable materials,’ comments the poimo team. ‘a soft body enables safer user interactions with pedestrians and drivers; the lightweight and inflatable properties allow the users to easily carry it as a portable device, by deflating, folding, and packing it into, for example, a backpack. as embodiment of such soft mobility, we prototyped poimo (portable and inflatable mobility). to evaluate the poimo, we first conducted mechanical tests to verify that it can endure the weight of a human. we also measured the time needed to inflate / deflate it to demonstrate its property. finally, we reported on the preliminary results of riding on it, and clarified the requirements to further investigate and implement soft mobility transport.’