Toyota Motor North America is joining forces with DEKA Research and Development, the company founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen, to support mobility solutions for the disabled community. This agreement will help DEKA to proceed with plans to complete the development and launch the next generation iBOT motorized wheelchair.

The iBOT is a motorized wheelchair with two sets of powered wheels that can be rotated to allow the user to ‘walk’ up and down stairs. The wheelchair allows users to rise from a sitting level to approximately six feet in height and travel in this ‘standing’ configuration, and is capable of traveling through a wide variety of terrain types.

Under the terms of the agreement, Toyota will license balancing technologies held by DEKA and its affiliate for medical rehabilitative therapy and potentially other purposes.