The controversial ‘suicide pod’ that lets users kill themselves with the press of a button
‘The person who wants to die presses the button and the capsule is filled with nitrogen. He or she will feel a bit dizzy but will then rapidly lose consciousness and die’
A controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves at a press of a button went on display at Amsterdam funeral show.
Called the “Sarco”, short for sarcophagus, the 3D-printed machine invented by Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke and Dutch designer Alexander Bannink comes with a detachable coffin, mounted on a stand that contains a nitrogen canister.
“The person who wants to die presses the button and the capsule is filled with nitrogen. He or she will feel a bit dizzy but will then rapidly lose consciousness and die,” said Nitschke, who has been dubbed “Dr Death” for his work to legalise euthanasia.
The “Sarco” is a device “to provide people with a death when they wish to die,” Nitschke said.
The inventors put a model of the device on display, together with a set of virtual reality glasses to give visitors a true-to-life experience of what it would be like to sit in the pod, before ultimately pressing the button.