Dali’s Ovocipede (Apr, 1960)
Dali’s Ovocipede
Looking like something dreamed up by Salvador Dali (it was), the ovocipede is a transparent plastic sphere that is propelled by the occupant, who runs along on the inside track like a squirrel in an old-fashioned squirrel wheel. The famous painter claims that the “vehicle” can be rolled over land, water, ice, or snow—the operator stands and holds the two hand bars on the axis, or can sit on the seat to coast. Steering is managed by shifting the weight along the axis in the direction of the turn. The driver turns around to reverse.
“The Simpsons” already did it.
Well, maybe not *already*.
Naturally, it has to be transparent so the rider can see where to go.
After rolling down paved streets for a while, it won’t be transparent any more.
Did anyone say “brakes?”
From a Dali page:
Dali once landed in New York dressed in a golden space suit, inside a transparent sphere. This was his famous invention, the ‘Ovocipede™ (presented in Paris in 1959), which, according to Dali, was a new means of locomotion based on the fantasies provoked by the intra-uterine paradises.
I’m guessing he fantasized about Ben-Wa balls…
Cool, a human-sized hamster ball.
imagine how nice it feels to move around with it!
Well, Dali was a surrealist. They didn’t expect him to be serious about this? Or didn’t they?
The more practical ones are, of course, giraffe powered.
Here is the man and his invention http://www.fanantique.c…