Inventor Chris Hoffmann’s brainchild looks a little like a motorcycle that’s undergone an amputation. The machine stands at waist-height, has a sloping seat and a bulky wheel below the handles. This "micro-cycle" is the prototype of a product that Hoffmann hopes will help transform his Vancouver, Washington, start-up, Ryno Motors, to mitigate urban traffic.
After Hoffmann's 13-year-old daughter saw something similar in a video game, after she saw something similar in a video game. Now, a year later, the 54-year-old Hoffman talks to the media about his work- a Belgian environmental magazine, the Seattle Times auto section, British and German TV. Last winter, representatives of a small Chinese manufacturer rerouted their trip home from JFK through PDX, met Hoffmann in the airport parking lot for a test drive, and struck a development agreement before boarding the flight home.