I got to ride a Segway today for a short time…
Total geekout fascination.
OK…first thing…there’s the Tiller, right?
Don’t let that mislead you. It’s NOT there for stability, like a pair of handlebars on a bike, or a steering wheel.
However, when you first get on, you treat it as though that’s exactly what it were… Like the handles on a stairclimber.
It’s not… when you start leaning backwards, you start MOVING backwards, and you instinctively PULL on the “handle” for balance…which makes you move backwards FASTER…so, you wiggle forward, still holding onto “the bar”, which (thankfully) arrests your backward travel, but then you start moving forward…and you push against “the bar” to steady yourself…which makes you go forward faster…which tips you backwards again, starting the whole jerky back and forth oscillations again.
The trick, is to NOT touch the tiller except with the lightest of touches to keep it upright… two fingers, please…
Once you’re on it, you just…stand there.
It is honestly the most bizzarre feeling…ever.
The SLIGHTEST change in balance gets you moving slightly in one direction or another… I mean..SLIGHTEST change.
One of the first things I did was to let go of the tiller completely…(Yeah, like in the Weird Al Video…shoot me.) It gets IMMENSELY easier after you take that leap of faith that the thing isn’t going to go running off someplace without you.
Then you can just…stand there…on this platform…with wheels. and not go anywhere.
Then you THINK about moving forward…and you subconciously respond to that thought…and, lo and behold, you start moving forward slowly…by THINKING ABOUT IT.
Think about stopping, you stop.
Think about backing up, you back up.
The device is that sensitive to your changes in balance.
It truly is the STRANGEST sensation in the whole world…to move around…without using your feet…without using your hands…you just stand there, and lean ever so imperceptibly, and you start moving…
I MUST HAVE ONE.
OMG, was that my outloud voice? =)