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Segway creator unveils hope for millions-Portable water purifier premieres at tech conference

Dean Kamen, creator of the high-tech scooter that was banned in San Francisco, introduced his latest creation Thursday — a portable water purifier that he hopes will save millions of people around the world who suffer from shortages of fresh water.

Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer

For the first time publicly, Kamen demonstrated a prototype of the 100- pound device to a standing ovation at the annual Technology, Entertainment, Design conference in Monterey.

The purifier, combined with a new portable power generator also being produced by Kamen’s Deka Research & Development Corp. of New Hampshire, could bring needed low-cost electricity and water to areas suffering the most from shortages of both, Kamen said.

The water purifier, about the height of an airline bag on wheels, is priced at about $1,500, but it is designed to require little maintenance and uses no chemicals or filters, Kamen said.

The generator, which uses a type of engine called the Stirling that heats and cools gas inside, would run about $3,700.

The annual four-day TED conference draws more than 800 top leaders from a variety of fields. It is known as a launching pad for cutting-edge or even pre- cutting-edge technology.

Kamen said he plans to meet with officials from several African nations next month. Last year, a World Health Organization report said more than 1 billion people, mostly in Africa and Asia, lack access to safe water.

Kamen said he has no firm marketing or distribution plan in place. However,

he told the crowd he has loftier goals than just creating a moneymaker, saying it is the kind of technology that could save the millions of lives.

In addition, he said spending money on such technology could do more to help reduce hatred against America than hoping technology can make the nation more secure.

Kamen’s device purifies water through a distillation and condensation process tied to a proprietary system designed by Deka. Kamen said the purifier can handle any contaminants and produce 10 gallons of water an hour on 500 watts of electricity.

The company claims the purifier can convert 75 percent of seawater and up to 95 percent of contaminated water into drinkable water, but it acknowledges that it does not yet have outside verification of the purifier’s reliability.

Kamen is best known for the Segway Human Transporter. Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation making the cutting-edge electric scooter legal on California streets last year, but San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors earlier this year banned the Segway from city sidewalks because of safety concerns.

Another Kamen device is the Independence iBOT 3000 Mobility System, a motorized wheelchair capable of climbing stairs.

In other developments at TED, Rick Smolen, creator of the successful "Day in the Life of" photography book series, announced his latest project this summer will chronicle "what it’s really like to live daily lives in America."

Smolen said organizers plan to pay 1,000 professional photographers to shoot photos from May 12-19. He plans to meet with photojournalists in San Francisco to decide which photos will be used for 53 books — one featuring each state, one each for New York City and Washington, D.C., and one for the nation.

In addition, Smolen plans to ask people who own digital cameras, which now outsell film cameras, to take photos and submit them to a Web site that will be set up for the project. Some photos will be used for the books, while the rest will be available on the Web.

Smolen said he hopes the books and the Web site will help people outside of America understand more about the country.

"A lot of Americans are disappointed in the way we are being portrayed to the outside world," he said.

E-mail Benny Evangelista at [email protected].

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/28/BU156573.DTL&type=business

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