The iBot coming to a location near you!

After several years on the market, the remarkable iBot 4000 remains the only wheelchair that can power across sand, gravel and uneven terrain, climb steps up to 5 inches and rise to eye-level - even on the move.

Developed by DEKA Corp., the same engineers who brought us the amazing Segway, the iBot’s balance system is programmed to the user’s center of gravity to monitor and respond to subtle changes in motion.

Reach forward to shake hands, and the iBot leans with you. Lean back and it moves away as well. The iBOT constantly realigns and adjusts to keep the user upright and stable, even when driving up and down curbs or inclines.

We remain in awe of the iBot and the Segway, and would love to own them but their prices make us feel like poor kids outside the candy store looking in.

The iBot’s price remains around $30,000 while the price of a conventional powered wheelchair starts at around $4,000.

Granted, the Segway is much cheaper than the iBot at around $5,000 to start, but still an enormous price for what essentially is a fancy, upright scooter. (Forgive me Dean Kamen.)

At a cost of an estimated $200 million, the iBot was, by far, the most costly wheelchair ever developed. Reportedly, only a few hundred have been sold - far fewer than the thousands of sales Johnson & Johnson were hoping for.

So much for so few when there are so many of us out here.