Japan’s futuristic e-wheelchair to be deployed at public spaces, theme parks

Visitors to some Japanese airports, museums, and amusement parks may soon have a much more sophisticated – and fashionable – personal mobility option than traditional shared wheelchairs and Rascal-esque electric scooters. Earlier this week, Japanese telco NTT Docomo announced its plans to begin selling Whill’s futuristic Model A “anti-wheelchair” to local governments and enterprise customers.

Whill, based in Tokyo and San Francisco, is one of Japan’s hottest hardware startups. It raised Japan’s largest series A round of 2014, to the tune of US$11 million, last September. Docomo Ventures, the telco’s venture capital arm, was involved in that investment.

Model A’s sold through the partnership will be customized with wireless communication, GPS, and remote control, according to Docomo. The company will also deploy a wireless management system to keep track of their rides.

20km range

Satoshi Sugie, Whill’s co-founder and CEO, tells Tech in Asia that the collaboration will “start small, with tens of units.” He declined to speculate on future sales targets or reveal pricing for the enterprise model. Backers of Whill’s Kickstarter campaign – which successfully raised more than US$35,000 last July – could receive an ordinary Model A for US$9,500.

Whill’s Model A features four-wheel-drive and can navigate smoothly over a variety of surfaces, including grass and gravel. Its omni-directional front wheels offer a tight turning radius for maneuvering in tight spaces. It can climb 10-degree inclines and boasts a range of 20 kilometers on a single charge. The Model A also offers three intuitive controller styles – mouse, joystick, and “ergonomic” – that can be swapped for left-handed users.

The enterprise version is slated to hit the market on April 1.