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Meet the Solowheel Iota, the invention to replace the hoverboard

Knockoffs ruined his product, so he made a better one.

 

Phillip Tracy

Tech

Posted on Jan 28, 2017   Updated on May 25, 2021, 2:54 am CDT

Shane Chen, the man who introduced the hoverboard and Solowheel on Kickstarter, has a new campaign for an original two-wheeled device, and this one looks nowhere near as goofy as his previous inventions.

The Solowheel Iota is essentially a mini version of the Solowheel, those powered unicycles you see people cruising around on every now and then. It adds an extra wheel to assist the company’s self-balancing technology.

The new Solowheel can ride at 10 mph for eight miles on a single charge, and it takes 40 minutes to power up.

What is so impressive about this new invention and why it may gain more popularity than the dying hoverboard,is how discrete the entire package is. The Iota weighs just eight pounds and is just seven inches wide. It can also fold its pedals into the base, and it has a handle on top for easy transportation.

Dare we say, you may actually look somewhat natural rolling down the streets on these strange things.

The Iota is expected to cost $600 when it becomes widely released. The Kickstarter campaign reached its $50,000 goal just three days after going live, and as of this writing, it had raised more than $95,000.

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*First Published: Jan 28, 2017, 11:08 am CST