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A year after a controversial assisted-dying device was used for the first time, its inventor says he is preparing a new version designed for two.
The Sarco pod, a 3D-printed capsule that allows a user to trigger a nitrogen release, entered the global spotlight in 2024 after a 64-year-old American woman used it in Switzerland.
The episode quickly spiraled into a police investigation, with authorities seizing the device and detaining those present before later ruling out intentional homicide.
Now, Philip Nitschke, the Australian-born physician behind Sarco, says development is underway on a larger, AI-enabled model built specifically for couples who want to die together.
“I’m not suggesting everyone’s going to race forward and say: ‘Boy, I really want to climb into one of those things,’” Nitschke told the DailyMail. “But some people do.”
Nitschke said interest has already come from couples, including one from Britain who told him they wanted to “die in each other’s arms.”
The new design, sometimes referred to as the “Double Dutch” Sarco, would be large enough for two people and require a synchronized decision: both occupants must press their buttons at the same time or the device will not activate.
The original Sarco capsule works by flooding its chamber with nitrogen, rendering the occupant unconscious within seconds and causing death shortly afterward.
Nitschke said the woman who used the pod last year pressed the button almost immediately, explaining that she “really wanted to die” in the device and had read about it beforehand.
Beyond its size, the next iteration introduces a feature Nitschke says was unfinished during the first use: artificial intelligence designed to assess mental capacity.
“One of the parts to the device which hadn’t been finished, but is now finished, is the artificial intelligence,” he said.
Instead of a traditional psychiatric evaluation, future users would complete an online test administered by an AI avatar.
“Traditionally, that’s done by talking to a psychiatrist for five minutes, and we did that,” Nitschke said of the first case.
“But with the new Double Dutch, we’ll have the software incorporated, so you’ll have to do your little test online with an avatar, and if you pass that test, then the avatar tells you you’ve got mental capacity.”
Passing the test would power the pod for a 24-hour window. After that, the assessment would need to be taken again.
Nitschke said most components of the dual pod have already been produced and that the device could be assembled within months.
Even so, its future hinges on Swiss authorities, who have yet to approve the technology.
On the day the Sarco was first used, Switzerland’s interior minister, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, said the device was “not legal,” a statement that helped trigger the initial investigation.
That inquiry ultimately ended without charges, but the debate over assisted dying, and the machines built to facilitate it, is far from settled.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
