On: Students in Switzerland build a wheelchair that cl...

[Avshalom]

Was anyone paying attention when the Dean Kamen wheelchair stopped being made? Was it cost/demand, didn't work? The wikipedia article says something about the FDA reclassifying it but that doesn't seem to explain why it stopped being made.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBOT

[maxerickson → Avshalom]

It sounds like the market was too small:

http://forums.segwaychat.org/archive/index.php/t-20984.html

I looked at the iBOT page in the Wayback Machine, it jumps from a sales page to a page with a statement they aren't selling it anymore.

[dogma1138 → Avshalom]

IIRC once the FDA reclassified it it was no longer classified as a "wheelchair" so it wasn't covered by insurance / HMO's which with it's cost pretty much meant it would not be bought by anyone.

[rcurry → Avshalom]

I always wondered about that - it seemed like a great invention.