We will probably never know whether the leak was accidental or not; but the news that Harvard Business School Press was paying an advance of $250,000 for a book proposal about a new invention from Dean Kamen has turned into one of the most effective pieces of marketing for something that does not exist yet -- or maybe doesn't exist at all?

Dean Kamen is certainly not a man to ignore. While he was still a 3rd year student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute he invented the first wearable infusion pump. He formed his own company in 1976 to build and market the pumps for chemotherapy, endocrinology and neonatology. The market acceptance was huge and after developing an insulin pump for diabetics Kamen finally sold the company, AutoSyringe, to Baxter International. Baxter came back to him to design the HomeChoice dialysis machine.

Kamen, whose trademark is denim (Guinness world record holder for wearing same) formed his own think-tank company, DEKA Research & Development Corporation, to do further work for industry and one of the major products was a wheelchair with the smarts to get up stairs and over rough terrain. Loving robotics, Kamen also started FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) which runs robotics competitions, teaming up industry veterans with high school students, and he also owns an operation manufacturing electronic climate controls (Teletrol Energy Systems.)

So when inside.com reported the book deal between Harvard and Steve Kemper including effusive quotes from the likes of Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs about a new invention from Kamen, codenamed Ginger, the world kind of exploded in rumors. The size of the advance for the book is certainly not that large in publishing terms but when the proposal quotes things like "as significant as the world wide web" (VC John Doerr) and "will be the most lucrative start-up ever" (Credit Suisse First Boston) there is every reason to sit up and take notice. Obviously the prestige of being published by Harvard is rather more important to the players involved than money.

The invention is said to be an alternate to products that are "dirty, expensive, sometimes dangerous and often frustrating, especially for people in the cities." Since then the rumor mill has suggested things mostly in transportation; those have included a "wearable car," something that looks like a witch's broomstick with a wheel on the bottom, and an alternate fuel system. It has also been confidently reported that the device will take 10 minutes to assemble and will cost less than $2000. It is also said that the inventor has already been in planning discussions with cities and university campuses.

Kamen himself has not been totally quiet about the stories. In a statement he discounted the hype created by the leaks from the book proposal with "we have a promising project - nothing of the earth-shattering nature [that] people are conjuring up." But, then, the "dirt, expensive" quote has been attributed directly to Kamen as has "[the device] will profoundly affect our environment and the way people live worldwide." There have apparently been demonstrations of the technology and nobody has balked at making effusive statements afterwards -- but nobody is talking.

Over the years I have learned that one of the best ways of finding what somebody is up to -- if they won't just tell you -- is to look at who they are hiring. DEKA is based in Manchester, NH, in a delightfully-converted mill building. The people there have fun, I'm told, and the company is currently looking to fill a number of positions:

• Software Engineer, Embedded Systems (C/C++)
• Software Integration/QA Engineer (C++)
• Diagnostic Software Engineer (C++)
• Electrical Engineer, Power Electronics-IBOT
• Electrical Engineer (microprocessor control/analog/power)
• EMI/EMC Expert
• System Safety Engineer (fault handling strategy)
• Senior Reliability Test Engineer (electro-mechanical)
• Embedded Systems Failure Analysis/Diagnostics Engineer (digital/analog)
• Test Engineer (medical)
• Electro-Mechanical Systems Engineer
• Motors/Batteries Engineer (switching brushless/NiCd/NiMH/Li-ion)

You have to go read all the basics of the job descriptions before coming to any conclusions about what these positions represent. Some shore up existing business in the medical world but there is a pattern that cannot be ignored.

Ginger is clearly a transportation project. From the opportunities (and the Electrical Engineer, Power Electronics is the most important -- and the job that I would want) this is a personal, smart, transportation project, electrically powered. I would also hazard that it is based on a combination of local battery-powered loops and main artery linear motors. There is nothing outrageous there in technology terms, but the implementation covers so many different facets it is all-encompassing in disciplines with the drive, safety and EMI arenas the most important.

How the personal transportation compartment will be designed and organized is clearly the most inventive part of this project -- issues of stability and safety will be paramount to any kind of successful introduction, and those must be areas that Kamen feels he has the technology edge; it will be fun watching the details emerge over the next two years.

Or is this all totally unreal? What do you think?

Read Darren Ashby's related article, "Hype."

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