An anonymous reader writes: Escalators have been allowing us to go up and down between different levels since 1897 without breaking a sweat, but until now they had to be straight. The Levytator aims to fix that by allowing an escalator to twist and turn to fit just about any curve.
It is the world’s first freeform escalator and has been developed by Jack Levy, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at City University London. The Levytator works by using a continuous loop of curved modules that can bend round any curve. And when we say any curve we mean it can even take on the shape of a DNA-like double helix so in the future you may be travelling around a pillar in a shopping mall, for example.