--- description: This Japanese skateboard could be the city transport of the future. title: The Japanese Have Just Perfected the Skateboard image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d1fbcc4a63241fb/69885e6a196cf45f2703775e/577373_6fc9ac58d74b47d28b37a9a40cf6dedf_srz_p_978_577_75_22_0-50_1-20_0.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Japanese Have Just Perfected The Skateboard ## Video: See How Robotics Are Disrupting What It Means to Be Disabled [Watch (HLS stream): See How Robotics Are Disrupting What It Means to Be Disabled](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MM0tk7XQ.m3u8) (4:21)  _Published 2015-07-28. At the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) in Pittsburgh, Pa., veterans, engineers, doctors and researchers are working together to improve the lives of people with disabilities._ by [Benjamin Snyder/Fortune](/author/benjamin-snyderfortune/) ## Benjamin Snyder/Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 10:00 PM CUT  WalkCar by [Benjamin Snyder/Fortune](/author/benjamin-snyderfortune/) ## Benjamin Snyder/Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 10:00 PM CUT A Japanese engineer just invented a nifty new way to travel: A transporter called a “WalkCar” that’s small, light and apparently easy to use. The product is battery powered and is about the size of a laptop. And although it looks like it can’t hold much weight and is made from aluminum, it can apparently have as much as 265 lbs on board. VentureBeat [reported](http://venturebeat.com/2015/08/07/pocket-sized-personal-transporters-could-soon-be-seen-on-the-streets-of-tokyo/ "undefined") that it can go up to 6.2 miles per hour for up to 7.4 miles. It needs three hours to charge. Creator Kuniako Saito told Reuters in an interview, “‘What if we could just carry our transportation in our bags, wouldn’t that mean we’d always have our transportation with us to ride on?’ and my friend asked me to make one, since I was doing my masters in engineering specifically on electric car motor control systems.” Per VentureBeat: --- > “” --- You can see WalkCar in action here: ### These Robots Have Their Own World Cup  Humanoid robots are seen at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters  Research associates Larry Vadakedathu and Qin He work with one of their RoboCup entries, a 5-foot-tall metal humanoid named THOR (Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot), in the adult-size league at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 7, 2014. Matt Rourke—AP  Robocup Junior teams in RoboCup Robot Soccer Championship on July 21, 2014. Lorena Travassos—Fotoarena/Corbis  Members of the Rhoban project's team check functions of a humanoid robot at the LaBRI workshop in Talence, France on July 7, 2014. Regis Devignau—Reuters  People work on the software of humanoid robots during a photo opportunity at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany on July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters  Students at the University of Pennsylvania work with one of their RoboCup entries known as Nao in Philadelphia on July 7, 2014. Matt Rourke—AP  The first day of the RoboCup Robot Soccer Championship in João Pessoa, Brazil on July 21, 2014. Lorena Travassos—Fotoarena/Corbis  A participant from the Netherlands prepares his humanoid robot for a soccer match in the international robotics competition in Tehran, Iran on April 10, 2014. Vahid Salemi—AP  Humanoid robots play during a soccer match while visitors follow the competition in the international robotics competition, RoboCup Iran Open 2014, in Tehran, Iran on April 10, 2014. Vahid Salemi—AP  Trophies won by humanoid robots at competitions are seen during a photo opportunity at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Bonn in Bonn, Germany on July 3, 2014. Ina Fassbender—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/"},"headline":"The Japanese Have Just Perfected The Skateboard","datePublished":"2015-08-07T22:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:32.085Z","description":"And it looks amazingly fun","url":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/","keywords":["Tech","Japan","Travel","International","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d1fbcc4a63241fb/69885e6a196cf45f2703775e/577373_6fc9ac58d74b47d28b37a9a40cf6dedf_srz_p_978_577_75_22_0-50_1-20_0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Benjamin Snyder/Fortune","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/benjamin-snyderfortune/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d1fbcc4a63241fb/69885e6a196cf45f2703775e/577373_6fc9ac58d74b47d28b37a9a40cf6dedf_srz_p_978_577_75_22_0-50_1-20_0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"577373_6fc9ac58d74b47d28b37a9a40cf6dedf_srz_p_978_577_75_22_0-50_1-20_0","caption":"","creditText":"WalkCar","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/","name":"The Japanese Have Just Perfected The Skateboard"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See How Robotics Are Disrupting What It Means to Be Disabled","description":"At the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) in Pittsburgh, Pa., veterans, engineers, doctors and researchers are working together to improve the lives of people with disabilities.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MM0tk7XQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-28T17:47:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MM0tk7XQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/","duration":"PT4M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3989603/japan-walkcar-transporter/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```