Switzerland has just legalized Sarco Suicide Pod, the technological capsule for assisted suicide developed in 2017.
The Sarco Suicide Pod is a 3D printed sarcophagus that looks like a coffin with a large window: it can be taken away to a quiet place for the last moments of a person's life. This assisted suicide technology was originally revealed four years ago and is somewhere between a coffin and an airtight capsule. Death is caused by hypoxia and hypocapnia. Philip Nitschke from Exit International, the developer, says this “death capsule” offers a new perspective.
What?
That of being able to decide independently and in total freedom to proceed with an assisted suicide, it seems. An ordinary day, for your own reasons, walk into this little cabin, pull the door behind you and say hello to the world. A gesture that until today, although admitted to a certain extent, in Switzerland it required a psychological interview. Nitschke wants to eliminate that too. From assisted suicide to consummate suicide, with the same ease of an on-demand service.
“We want to get rid of any kind of psychiatric evaluation during the process and let the individual choose for themselves how to do it,” said the creator of Sarco Suicide Pod. “Our goal is to use artificial intelligence technology to improve the user experience. Naturally, there is a lot of skepticism, especially on the part of psychiatrists." Who knows why.
How does assisted suicide “in the cabin” work?
When ready, the user enters the Sarco Suicide Pod and then pushes a button. End. There is nothing more. The system gradually introduces an increasing amount of nitrogen, while simultaneously sucking in oxygen.
The procedure is designed to put the person to sleep inside, leading to assisted suicide without feelings of panic or suffocation, and avoiding the use of drugs such as pentobarbital. In order to use the capsule, today the individual who wants to proceed with suicide must complete an online survey to demonstrate that his decision was made independently.
If the test passes, the user will be informed of the location of the capsule and will receive a code to enter it. How do you say? Goodbye and thanks. But there remains much, much sadness.
