> It feels slightly unsafe though, just a bit.

To me, this is part of the appeal. Abled folks get to do all sorts of slightly unsafe things: skateboarding, motorcycling, etc. Why should disabled folks be tied to ultra-regulated, super-safe electric wheelchairs with absurdly slow governors?

The edgy vibe is what makes this cool (for me). I'm allowed to choose to ride a motorcycle (which could leave me stranded / kill me / etc). Disabled folks should also be allowed to choose their own calculated risks.

Uh, because you don't have legs in case of a bad thing, and even though disabled people may have strong arms after using wheelchairs, and a strong spirit, it's still far more risky for them. What if the person break a wrist or an arm and can't move with the remaining one ?

That's why it's called risk. An able-bodied person can injure themselves by taking risks just the same. Why should disabled persons be subject to limitations decided by someone else that are designed for the lowest common denominator? That's the only question being brought up here.

Alright, they're adult and can take responsibility for their decisions, I didn't want to imply I was taking this away from them.

> "It does avoid bearing the medical equipment tag"

In my mind, that's a huge negative, because it makes it a lot harder to get insurance to even partially cover the cost.

Very good point. It would be sad if the medical world stays too dogmatic, because a device that makes you wanna live is as important as a safe vehicle. At least I believe that's it's a win for everybody, that person may be far proactive mentally, physically[1] and socially; lessening the load on their close ones, and maybe other related bills like pain pills or other treatments.

[1] I buy the argument of being constantly trying to balance. These sets of muscle are rarely trained yet very very impact-ful on both body and mood.

The iBOT didn't find a market, probably at least partly because of FDA regulation:

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_device#Class_III:_Gene...

My anecdotal opinion is that insurance is unlikely to cover anything above the basic wheelchair anyways. I wonder if those looking for light weight, highly active wheelchairs, like those used for sports (basketball, tennis etc) are paid for out of pocket anyways.

I did find myself wondering about whether it should have a seatbelt.

You'd probably need to ask a regular wheelchair user, though. Do wheelchair basketballers use seatbelts?

I don't think they can generate even half the torque of this, and the balance point is different. Maybe something half way between a belt and nothing at all. Just enough to slow you down if case you're about to fly off.

Maybe not. This one seems to have some kind of control loop for steering, probably based on contact forces. The control loop surely is designed to catch you and keep you upright before the contact force gets too low, no matter how hard you try to break. (As opposed to a joystick-based break.) But sure, it won't prevent you from driving into an obstacle.