Spotting an Electric Unicycle in the Wild

While walking to work this morning (using my legs like a sucker), I spotted this guy crossing the street. I rushed to pull the phone out of my pocket to grab this photo, and luckily got a picture of him just scooting along his merry way.

The odd thing is – I didn’t see any real motor anywhere. It looks just like a plank of wood, balanced on a single wheel. I’m assuming this thing is electric, as I didn’t see any smoke or hear any noise. But I’ve no real idea what exactly this thing is, much less how it’s powered.

Does this look familiar to anyone?

Many years ago, I spotted this random unicycle while I was downtown. But whatever this was today, it looks possibly a little more DYI.

I am now definitely interested in figuring out what this thing is. And with the reminder that things like the SBU exist… I’m wondering if there’s any way I can wrangle a test drive. Now that would be something fun to document for the blog.

// Edit: Several folks on Twitter and Facebook have identified this thing as a Onewheel, which appears to go for around $1,500.

I have neither the money nor the sense of balance to justify the purchase of one of these guys. But now I’m imagining using this to get to/from the Metra, and to/from work.

Hm. I wonder just how low a number I can actually get, in terms of daily steps.

Thanks to @bibliogrrl, @thejimbirch, and Liam for the super-quick ID!

Related:
The Mystery of the Self-Balancing Unicycle