Skip to main content

Bicycle-inspired elevator uses pedal power to move you between floors

Given the choice between using an elevator and the stairs, it’s pretty clear which the healthier option is. Elevators might be easier — and even pretty awesome at times — but climbing the stairs gives you a free workout, which contributes toward your daily physical exercise quota. That’s especially good if, as many of us do, you work in a sedentary office job.

However, 29-year-old London-based architect Elena Larriba has come up with a third option — and it’s a doozy!

Recommended Videos

Called Vycle, Larriba’s concept is a personal lift that uses cyclical body movements as a source of energy to control the rider’s ascension and descension. Essentially, it’s a wall-mounted bicycle which allow you pedal from one floor to another.

“Taking my architecture background as a source of inspiration, I started analyzing current methods of vertical transportation and identifying areas of opportunity,” Larriba told Digital Trends. “I saw a big spot between the stairs and [the elevator]. My passion in the field of human-machine interaction and sustainability started to shape and narrow down possible solutions. The concept of the project comes from comparing horizontal movement and vertical movement. When people move around in the city, they do it through walking, cycling, or taking the car. If we compare these with how people move vertically, we can see that there is a correlation between people walking and taking the stairs, as well as with the car and the lift, but there is nothing like the bike in vertical transportation.”

Vycle
Vycle

Larriba said that Vycle’s lightweight, low square footage design would make it suitable for retrofitting into existing office buildings. (Although we do have to question how you’d get around the problem of it being able to pick you up at whichever floor you needed it!)

Sadly, there are no plans to bring this to market just yet, though. The proof-of-concept model was created as part of Larriba’s Innovation Design Engineering masters program at London’s Royal College of Art (RCA), and is therefore more a tech demo than a real product. That’s not to say this couldn’t change, though.

“I would love to keep exploring applications and morphing Vycle to different needs,” she said. “Potential routes to take it forward would be through an incubator, or even through a company that may be interested in developing it. At the moment I am in conversation with some of them. Hopefully in the future Vycle can find a sweet spot in the market where it could make a positive impact.”

Hey, considering that Google employees once strung up a zip-line between offices, there’s got to be some kickass tech startup that would be all over this idea for their kitted-out HQ!

Luke Dormehl
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Trump administration prepares to end Biden’s EV tax incentive, report says
president biden drives 2022 ford f 150 lightning electric pickup truck prototype visits rouge vehicle center

If you’re looking to buy or lease an electric vehicle (EV) and benefit from the Biden administration’s $7,500 tax incentive, you’d better act soon.

The transition team of the incoming Trump administration is already planning to end the credit, according to a report from Reuters citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Read more
Hertz is selling used Teslas for under $20K, Chevrolet Bolt EVs under $14K
2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently nixed hopes of a regular Tesla model ever selling for $25,000.

But he was talking about new models. For car rental company Hertz, the race to sell used Teslas and other EVs at ever-lower prices is not only still on but accelerating.

Read more
Never mind slowing sales, 57% of drivers will likely have an EV in 10 years

Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have slowed globally over the past few years. But should EV makers cater more to the mainstream, it’s likely that 57% of drivers will have an EV in 10 years, consulting firm Accenture says.

Last year, nearly 14 million EVs were sold globally, representing a 35% year-on-year increase. But it was much slower than the 55% sales growth recorded in 2022 and the 121% growth in 2021.

Read more