Toyota and iBot Inventor Dean Kamen Team Up For the Futuristic Chair’s Comeback

Carmaker Toyota has announced this weekend that it is working with DEKA, Dean Kamen's company to re-introduced iBot in the market.

The Verge noted that Toyota and DEKA aim to "support mobility solutions for the disabled community". This support meant launching the revamped iBot, a motorized wheelchair that was first introduced in 2001. It remains to be futuristic up until now, according to The Verge.

Tech Crunch shared that Kamen have always wanted to re-introduce the chair in the market. Through the deal between his company DEKA and Toyota, the project is finally set to make a comeback as planned. The photo of iBot 2.0 prototype has already been published. The new version is almost similar to the old model, but is slimmer and comes with improvements in terms of technology.

The iBot wheelchair can climb stairs and travel at a constant walking pace, bring convenience to the user. However, when it was first introduced the tag price was $25,000, which was too expensive for prospective buyers during that time. Since it was too expensive for the target market, its sale was discontinued in year 2009.

In the promo video shared by Toyota, Kamen said: "As we've seen people enjoy the flexibility and the freedom and the independence that an iBot brings-and that no wheelchair can bring---we've known that we have to bring this technology to more people who need it around the world."

Part of the agreement between Toyota and DEKA is that the former will be licensing balancing technologies for its line-up of products. The carmaker also noted that these shall be used for "medical rehabilitative therapy and potentially other purposes."

Previously, Toyota has also invested $1 billion in a research institute that would work on making robotic helpers and other related products showing the company's great interest in this field.