poimo's latest inflatable electric scooter can be customized to your body posture

earlier this year, kawahara lab / niiyama lab of the university of tokyo and mercari R4D of mercari, inc. presented poimo, a soft and transportable personal electric scooter that can be inflated with air. aiming to redefine electric personal mobility by combining it with soft robotics, the creative team is back with a second iteration of the scooter which can be tailored to the user’s body and riding style simply by taking a picture of the riding gesture they imagine.

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images by poimo

poimo’s new launch not only includes the electric scooter, but also a manual wheelchair type. light and soft, deflated and foldable, poimo opens up new fields in terms of personal mobility. the unique characteristic of this project is that it takes advantage of being custom-made for each individual and contributes to the realization of an inclusive society where everyone can acquire the means of transportation that suits them.

‘even if you are not an expert, you can easily design personal mobility that suits each user’s physique and riding style by simply shooting a pose that imagines the vehicle you want to use using dedicated software,’ comments poimo. ‘the balloon structure is suitable for custom-made because it can be made by cutting out durable fabric and making it in any shape. not only the car body but also the steering wheel and wheels are made of balloon structure, so it is lighter and softer than conventional mobility, and it can be deflated and folded. conventional personal mobility includes electrically power assisted bicycles, electric scooters, and electric standing motorcycles, but they could not be custom-made.’

this new poimo design also takes into consideration the managing of the product, like how to carry it and how to store it. while the scooter can be inflated to the size of a normal motorcycle or wheelchair, it can be stored compactly by deflating the air and folding it, making it easy to carry.

‘furthermore, in this research, we have developed a dedicated software that allows users to design vehicles of a size and shape that suit their height and posture. for example, when designing an electric motorcycle type poimo, the user first imagines the motorcycle he wants to make and then poses to ride it using a chair or the like. the software extracts 3D information of posture from it, automatically designs a vehicle of shape and size according to the user’s pose, and displays it on the screen as a 3D model. based on the proposed design, users can further customize the steering wheel, seat position, etc. at this time, the design parameters are automatically adjusted by the software so that the strength, stability, and operability are not impaired. the final design that has been adjusted is output as data that can be ordered as it is.’