Shift Robotics – YouTube
This summer, a pair of strap-on shoes will be available that allow you to walk at the speed of a run.
Aptly titled, “Moonwalkers” a set of eight wheels per shoe move your feet as if you were on a moving walkway at an airport.
The obvious question is, ‘how is that different from a rollerskate?’ with the answer being that the wheels move only when you do, and only when you reach a regular walking stride.
On stairs, entering or exiting public transit, or in crowded areas, the wheels won’t move a millimeter.
Designed by an American tech start-up called Shift Robotics, they accelerate normal walking pace to around 6.8 mph, around the clip of a comfortable run. Their crack team from the Carnegie Mellon Institute consisted of jet propulsion engineers, race car technicians, and running shoe designers.
“I asked myself why I never walked to work – and it’s not just me, a lot of people don’t rely on walking, which is surprising considering it’s much safer, easier and more convenient, plus it’s better for the environment,” Zhang Xunjie, founder of Shift Robotics, said in a statement.
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“The problem is that walking is just too slow and inefficient. So I made it my mission to enhance walking instead of replacing it”.
Simple gestures, the raising or pivoting of the heel, switches the shoe from locked to moving mode, allowing a rather seamless transition between speed and safety. Inside the shoes are algorithms that can learn the wearer’s natural walking pace in under 10 steps.
Price points are not available at the moment, but they will be shipping this summer.
WATCH Them move, and hear the story of how they were made…
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