Associated Press
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Inventor Dean Kamen's mystery invention, dubbed "IT'' or "Ginger,'' is a two-wheeled, hydrogen-powered scooter that is emission-free and for which he is building a New Hampshire factory, Inside magazine reports.
The print publication of Inside.com says it used corporate surveillance experts to uncover the details on the invention.
'"Ginger represents the first generation of a new mode of transportation that will compete with and possibly replace automobiles. The ramifications of a 'hydrogen economy' would be profound on everything from the environment to the energy business to global politics,'' the magazine said.
Kamen created a company called ACROS to build "motorized, self-propelled, wheeled personal mobility aides, namely wheelchairs, scooters, carts and chariots,'' the magazine said.
The Manchester inventor has refused to discuss the project, saying he will not reveal what IT is until next year.
But IT has created waves already. Some of the biggest wheels of industry, like Steve Jobs of Apple and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com, who reportedly have seen the machine, have offered financial support and say the invention will change transportation.
Such devices presumably would draw on the development of the I-bot, a mechanical wheelchair that can drive through sand and climb stairs, created by Kamen and his medical-research firm, DEKA Research and Development.
The I-bot was part of the reason Kamen was among recipients of the 2000 National Medal of Technology.
Last week at an appearance before the New Hampshire Society of Professional Engineers, Kamen would only say he was amazed at the amount of attention IT has received.
Kamen is a prolific and successful inventor who has come up with innovative wheelchairs and an insulin pump.
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