September 24, 2009—The battery-powered "personal mobility device," designed by Japan's Honda Motor Company, is steered as a rider shifts his or her weight in the desired direction.

© 2009 National Geographic (AP)

Unedited Transcript

Japanese automaker Honda unveiled a new form of personal mobility in Tokyo this week.

The company says the likely target audiences are the elderly and commuters.

The U3-X personal mobility device looks like a unicycle, but acts quite differently to a conventional cycle.

To move around, users sit on the device as though it's a stool and lean their weight in the direction they want to travel.

The U3-X, demonstrated for reporters on Thursday, was designed to be small, safe and unobtrusive enough to mingle with pedestrians, according to Honda Motor Company.

The single wheel on the U3-X is made up of many tiny motor-controlled wheels, packed inside the bigger wheel, allowing the device to swerve in any direction.

It also stands upright on its own. The U3-X maintains its own balance as it scoots along at a speed of up to 3.7 miles per hour.

Hondas President says the machine was still "a proposal," and the company has no sales plans, pricing or firm ideas on where or how it will be used.

The company declined to give details of the technology, but said it weighs less than 22 pounds, and has a lithium-ion battery that can run on a full charge for an hour.

Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corporation has shown their own machines that help people get around, including a scooter-like device that people ride standing up and a motorized armchair-on-wheels.