A Lithuanian artist and engineer has taken the amusement and adrenaline rush of a roller coaster to a new level. Urbonas designed a ride that eventually subjects the rider to death. This roller coaster, known as the Euthanasia Coaster, is designed to put the user through a series of experiences of all sorts. As described on Ubonas' website, the coaster takes the rider from "...euphoria to thrill, from tunnel vision to loss of consciousness, and eventually, death," really providing them with the ride of a lifetime.
Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical death machine in the form of a roller coaster, engineered to humanely - with elegance and euphoria - take the life of a human being.
Designed in 2010, the ride is intended to celebrate the limits of the human body. The seven loops in the roller coaster put the rider's body under such extreme stress that the brain eventually becomes starved of oxygen. The g-force or gravitational force is so astronomical that the heart is not able to push blood against it. The oxygen deprivation to the brain causes the person to go brain dead, a legal indicator of death under many rules.
In his video explaining the roller coaster, Urbonas explains that the ride is intended to humanely, and with pleasure kill a human being. In contrast to the medical approach to euthanasia, he offers this as a post-modern path. Although the concept is something straight out of science fiction, the theory would be entirely possible. Urbonas views this as a possible solution for over population, or a life that simply becomes "too long". Oddly enough, even with all of this effort put into the design, Urbonas makes a point to mention that he does not advocate for assisted suicide. The design was intended majorly as a kinetic art piece, but also an alternative to the ritualized practice of euthanasia in countries where this practice is legal.
Urbonas also uses his website to provide a detailed description of the proceedings of the ride. He details every second of the ride, starting from the moment you are locked in with a harness and health monitoring system, and ending with your ultimate death.
Not everyone agrees with the idea presented in this art piece, some even argue that the coaster would leave people feeling sick, instead of feeling, well, dead. Regardless, this killer coaster has gained massive media attention since its release to the public, ranging from TV shows, songs, virtual replications and even some science fair projects. The real coaster has never been built, and currently only a scale model exists, at least as far as we know.
