From: Time Magazine (hal@finney.org)
Date: Tue Apr 01 2003 - 17:42:55 MST
Eliminating Hassles
by Gregory Heisler for TIME
While he has yet to reveal the device to the public, rumors
are circulating about the latest brainchild of Dean Kamen,
the iconoclastic inventor of the iBot wheelchair and the
Segway personal transporter.
"He's really excited about this one," says my confidential
source, who represents one of the venture capital firms
being courted at Kamen's Manchester, NH headquarters, "and
we hope to be behind him all the way."
Kamen will only say that the project--codenamed "Basil"--
is a high-tech human waste disposal system that, in his
words, "will be to the typical American flush toilet what
the toilet was to the outhouse." My source believes that
the device will find its first market among developing
nations that don't have the plumbing infrastructure of the
United States, but that he hopes the unique qualities of
the new system will be appealing enough that even Americans
will want to change. "Especially today, when building
codes are mandating low-flow toilets that no one likes,
a new system like this will allow homeowners some luxury
without the environmental costs."
Initial units are now being installed in some high-volume
sites such as office buildings and a Las Vegas hotel now
under construction. "We think travelers will become
accustomed to the benefits of Basil, and will start to
demand it in their hotels wherever they go." The initial
$8,000 price tag might cause some resistance to that, but
Kamen expects that mass production might lower the costs
to $3,000 or less, making them available to ordinary
consumers.
Kamen will demonstrate the device live on a special episode
of CBS's "Survivor" on Thursday, April 3.
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