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Moonwalkers: Shoes that make you walk faster (pre-order)
- markthethomas 4y ago“My shoes!!! They’ve been hacked!!!”
- alexfromapex 4y agoI bet you'd walk pretty fast in these down steep hills
- SnooSux 4y ago> USD $1399 Oof Ideally the product does well and release a more affordable version later. I don't have a use for it but there's definitely people this could help..
- giardia 4y ago[flagged]
- aerodog 4y agoAirports
- Graziano_M 4y agoUntil you have to board the plane and carry and extra couple dozen pounds for the rest of your trip.
- standardly 4y agoIt says they are 4lbs
- jcutrell 4y agoBut the extra dozen come from the lower calorie expenditure from not walking as much. /s
- standeven 4y agoRent them out anywhere there’s a lot of walking - airports, walking tours, theme parks, malls (if they still exist).
- Graziano_M 4y agoNo way their insurers would allow that
- xnzakg 4y agoWould definitely be useful for airport employees who already often use kick scooters
- dwighttk 4y agoMake fists with your toes
- yamtaddle 4y agoThat's what the walkway-conveyor-belt things are for.
- alexb_ 4y agoHow long until we see this on warehouse floors?
- jamestimmins 4y agoThis was my thought as well. Reminds me of Google Glass. A bit too strange looking to get much use by regular people, but there may be legit applications among niche groups of professionals.
- nidnogg 4y agoIt reminded me of Google Glass as in it reminded me of DoA product. To be honest though, I thought that they looked far less strange and more useful than these shoes. I still grieve for their passing.
- asdff 4y agoProbably a long time. I guess bikes and even little utility trikes with a cargo bed are becoming increasingly popular in factories and warehouses.
- thot_experiment 4y agoOdds of this company being relevant are nil. If this product ever becomes popular it will be because of a $300 chinese knockoff. However I very much doubt that it will be able to overcome the cultural association of sillyness and the aesthetic disaster that is "rolly-sandals with shoes".
- alexb_ 4y agoFor everyday use, maybe. For someone whos job requires them to walk along flat surfaces all day, this could be a worthy investment for a company to make.
- RajT88 4y agoAgree. Especially considering that rollerskates and rollerblades kind of already fulfill this function (just are bulkier, and take more skill to use, but honestly are easy enough to learn) and people don't usually use those for commuting in urban areas. That said, when I lived in Chicago, I used to see a lady who rollerbladed to the office. I am sure you're thinking, "Young techie, jeans & t-shirt", but you'd be wrong. 40's or late 30's, dressed like an exec. Wearing a dress, make-up, string of pearls, with a fancy handbag, nice haircut. I don't think this is a relevant data point (clearly an outlier), I just thought it was awesome and wanted to share.
- zanecodes 4y agoFrom personal experience, Chicago is kind of both the best case and the worst case for rollerblading: it's very flat and has nice wide sidewalks, but the sidewalks and even the streets are pretty rough and require large wheels for a smooth ride. Having a good amount of reasonably well maintained dedicated bike lanes would have made rollerblading to work a lot easier!
- green-salt 4y agoWas mildly interested until the price. They need to reel that in a bit if they want to appeal to more of an audience.
- BugsJustFindMe 4y agoCould you do this without any weird complexity, sensor electronics, or recharging batteries with a set of lockable freewheels?
- gnramires 4y agoGood question, but I think this breaks as well. It would be interesting to have a freewheel mechanism roller skates though. I think some hand-operated breaks would be a good addition too (or maybe some mechanical timer that breaks when you're not doing a walking motion anymore)
- Too 4y agoRoller skis have such bearings, that lock when rolling backwards, to simulate the feeling of cross country skiing.
- samwillis 4y agoAnyone else getting massive "Fisher Price Roller Skates" vibes from this? https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fisher+price+vintage+roller+skates&client=safari&hl=en-gb&prmd=sivn&sxsrf=AJOqlzX3UruBAtk2ShwJIVtCtDRkDzn5AQ:1672946143613&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy7_iEkrH8AhXPPsAKHdX4BN0Q_AUoAnoECAIQAg&biw=390&bih=664&dpr=3 https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fisher+price+vintage+rolle...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- m000 4y agoNo, but from the down side, the wheels look like cheap office chair rollers.
- xori 4y agoI don't know if 5 miles is long enough for the people who actually need it, but if I was a postal worker, these would be pretty sweet. And 1400 USD is cheaper than some car insurance here in Canada for young males.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y agoAt least in my neighborhood I think these would be more trouble than they're worth. It's a historic neighborhood so all the houses are built up on berms from when they dug the basements cuz the streets were full of muddy manure, so every walk up to a mailbox has stairs. Unless you're agile enough to go down stairs without doing the lock/unlock dance, these would probably slow you down overall.
- post-it 4y agoSupposedly you can easily go up/down stairs with these as the wheels lock automatically. Not sure how that works. Edit: In the video, it looks like a heel-up-toe-down motion with your right foot locks and unlocks the wheels.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y agoI watched the video, which is why I called it the lock unlock dance. Note that in that video, which is obviously going to be the best looking version of it they can show, it's still a pretty significant pause in your motion, because the control is both motion and timing based. Doing that two times per house for the 10 miles or so a carrier walks is gonna get old.
- asdff 4y agoIt's probably simpler to walk up stairs with actual inline skates I expect
- silisili 4y agoMy previous mailman was the walk, door to door type. There's all kinds of challenges...terrible roads, gravel, mud, having to walk through grass, etc. I'm really skeptical these wouldn't just gum up after a few days.
- renewiltord 4y agoDamn, this could substitute for my bicycle commute. I could just walk the distance in the same time. That would be sick. But I don't want to try at $1.4k
- trekkie1024 4y agoThe max speed for one of these is 7 mph, which is likely slower than you on a bicycle.
- renewiltord 4y agoRight, but because of one-ways the fastest route for me walking is half a mile shorter than on a bicycle. It's the compactness that appeals to me. I live in SF so I often don't take my bicycle somewhere because it'll be stolen. It only has to put me in the same ball park (~10 min) to make it worth it.
- rx_tx 4y ago> Military-grade, multiple redundancy electronics hardware, running our in-house OS with jet propulsion level stability add the final layer of peace of mind. That is a lot of buzz-words, and sort of hinting at JPL but failing. At the end of the video, the exploded view shows a crazy gear train, synchronizing those 10 wheels per shoe sounds tough.
- JustSomeNobody 4y agoThey also get their parts from the same place Tesla does!
- metadat 4y agoSo, China? Or did you mean the batteries are sourced from a Gigafactory?
- michpoch 4y agoNah, they also used the same libraries from GitHub, it counts.
- JustSomeNobody 4y agoI was being snarky. They named dropped JPL and Tesla in their video.
- vorpalhex 4y agoI watched a review from a shoe guy about these. He was very impressed with the wheel design - basically the inset raised wheels allow them to mimic a larger radius wheel and handle potholes and such smoothly. The designer did talk about how failures would be very bad (and it sounded like he had experienced plenty of fails with the earlier designs to be speaking from experience) which might be why they are pushing the terminology there.
- lm28469 4y ago> He was very impressed with the wheel design I can make a very good looking and well designed cake out of human feces, I'd still go for the 100 years old tested and proven brownie recipe that looks like a brick though. No matter how well something is designed, if it's stupid it's stupid
- joegahona 4y ago> Designed with an adaptive A.I. drivetrain, you can cover more distance - at your own pace. What does "adaptive A.I. drivetrain" mean?
- HN_is_for_gemes 4y ago[dead]
- hcrisp 4y agoIn the video it said something about running data through a neuromuscular model. And: "Our AI uses machine learning algorithms to adapt to a user's walking gaits, making them an extension of people's legs." For all that, the person's gait looks strange to me, like they aren't using their muscles normally. Maybe they are focused on landing the skate evenly on the wheels, or not getting off balance? Walking gait involves heel-strike and toe-lift-off phases and I would think if you mess with these they aren't going to feel comfortable after wearing a while.
- wiseleo 4y agoIt is likely an pair of accelerometers that learns the user’s gait pattern. Like most other AI claims, it has nothing to do with actual AI.
- standardUser 4y agoHow fast is the "walking" speed with these? Is it significantly faster than just walking really fast?
- HN_is_for_gemes 4y ago[dead]
- tomtheelder 4y agoSays top speed of 7mph. So that's like an ~8.5 minute mile pace, which is a pretty fast jog or a slow run. About double the average walking speed. They don't say if you can sustain that though.
- aidenn0 4y agoI saw a 5 mile range listed elsewhere; not sure if that's at top-speed though.
- syx 4y agoAs a passionate rollerblader who's been practising for over 10 years, I've lost count of the multiple attempts at reinventing shoes with wheels, maybe people should just learn how to skate? :)
- ss48 4y agoWired made a video of it here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4CHWulnDs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4CHWulnDs that gave a good idea of what it's like using them.
- odysseus 4y agoGood overview. $1400+tax though, wow. That "speed walker" he was racing against really looked like he was running ...
- Spivak 4y agoAs long as both feet aren't in the air at the same time it's walking.
- gamegoblin 4y agoThe main thing that separates speed walking ("race walking") from running is that you must always have a point of contact with the ground. That said, I've seen some articles of high speed video taken of pro race walkers and basically all of them have tiny moments where both feet are off the ground. Just not egregious enough for a referee to detect. In general, seems like a really contrived sport, but to each his own...
- 0cf8612b2e1e 4y agoWalter White has real opinions on people who lift their feet off the ground: https://youtu.be/JVBN7NAIrfg https://youtu.be/JVBN7NAIrfg
- gcanyon 4y agoI once read an interview with a writer/producer on Malcolm who said early on they realized there wasn't anything Bryan Cranston wouldn't do. They specifically tried to come up with things for Hal to do to challenge Cranston, and he never said no.
- 4y ago
- petarb 4y agoReminds me of Wheelies when we were kids
- mhb 4y agoHeelys perhaps?
- aidenn0 4y agoDid you mean Heelys[1]? 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heelys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heelys
- barathr 4y agoYeah, this seems like something that is cheap and low-tech that does close to the same thing. And a wheel in the heel allows for more control for the wearer with fewer things that can go wrong.
- pacaro 4y agoHeelys are fun — I got a pair when my kid got a pair — but they have a couple of drawbacks, they are very fussy about surface quality, not great with slopes, and impose a significant heel, which impacts posture and walking geometry (almost all my other shoes are zero drop, so this is very noticeable to me)
- LastTrain 4y agoIs there a YC connection to these or is there a joke I'm missing or something?
- geeky4qwerty 4y agoOne of the unique beauties of aging is getting to witness the rhyming of history. ~40 years ago it was roller skates ~30 years ago it was roller blades ~20 years ago it was roller shoes ~10 years ago we began to see the wide adoption of battery powered personal transporating devices sidenote: Anyone else notice the twice mention of Tesla in the promo video?
- pohl 4y agoThe mentions of Tesla jumped out at me. It was kind of jarring, since the brand doesn't have the cachet it did only a few months ago. I wonder if they were re-shooting the video today if they'd still mention it.
- teg4n_ 4y agoThe mentions to Tesla were off putting to me. It reminded me of when when recruiters try to brag about being founded by ex-Google/Amazon/Microsoft people. If that’s what you choose to sell yourself, imma pass.
- gghffguhvc 4y agoI don’t get all the negativity. Price will come down. - I can think of lots of jobs that employers would love their staff to move faster. - I like how these could make public transport commuting faster between home and transport and transport and destination. - I like the way they don’t replace the shoe
- kekkidy 4y ago[dead]
- bfeynman 4y agoI can guarantee you that this doesn't work well on anything other than perfectly cleared sidewalks and freshly paved roads. Could not imagine workplace lawsuits that will happen when someone falls and alleges shoe was at fault. Seems cool, not worth the hassle .
- fasthands9 4y agoI think there are probably warehouse settings where a product like this (assuming it worked) would be valuable. These places are going to be mostly flat predictable floors anyway. If you can reduce the amount of man hours needed that saves on labor as well other health related costs. Though perhaps by the time tech will work full scale robotics would be able to replace most of these workers anyway.
- Baeocystin 4y agoWe used beach cruiser bicycles at the shipyard. Worked great, no app or electronics required!
- a4isms 4y agoWay back in the early 80s when I worked in a bicycle store, we used to sell adult tricycles to Air Canada. The aircraft mechanics had a choice between golf carts and tricycles for getting around, but the trikes were popular because so many of them grew overweight and had health issues from being extremely sedentary. Riding around on a trike let them get across big hangers quickly, carry tools and small parts comfortably, and give them a moderate amount of exercise every day.
- mberning 4y agoI think these could find a niche in large cities with a lot of tourism. Being able to see twice the city by foot would be incredible when you have limited time on vacation. Many people tried to do this with Segways but it never really took off. This seems a lot better.
- tandr 4y agoBattery life is going to be a very serious limiting factor. It's one thing to walk all day in a new city you are visiting, and think only about recharging yourself. But walking an hour in these, and then carry them (and they should be heavy, relatively speaking) until next charge - I think it would not be worth it.
- the_af 4y ago> Many people tried to do this with Segways but it never really took off In my experience, this is the only actual use of Segways. I never see Segways used for anything else but city tours. I think maybe some mall security guards sometimes use them too.
- asdff 4y agoA lot of these sorts of cities have rental bikes for tourists, by the math you'd probably see 4x the city then with a bike.
- ortusdux 4y agoReminds me of the skateboards in Snow Crash.
- stainablesteel 4y agoPerfect example of what should be: show, don't tell Don't talk to me for 5 minutes about what your shoes do, I know what shoes do. Show me people walking through common obstacles, going around sharp corners, up and down inclines, up and down stairs, and stopping on a dime when need be. All that around 10s of other people both wearing these and normal shoes. If you can't do that, it's because you can't. Because your product is stupid.
- mind-blight 4y agoAbsolutely. Stopping on a dime is my biggest concern. With a scooter or bike, I can hit the breaks. None of the material covers how to handle emergency situations. The closest is slowing down to walk up stairs
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- elil17 4y agoThese look like they would have the same risks as electric scooters, all while remaining invisible to everyone around you. Hope to be proved wrong but these look like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
- seniorsassycat 4y agoWhy do they use a walking motion, vs planting your feet while using the motors? Why keep batteries in the shoes instead of a back or fanny pack? The staggered wheels to handle cracks and bumps without large wheels seems like a good innovation, would they work with unpowered skates?
- xur17 4y ago> Why do they use a walking motion, vs planting your feet while using the motors? It sounds like they're using walking speed as a control (walk faster, wheels move faster, walk slower, wheels move slower).
- Too 4y agoThe walking motion obviously adds the normal walking speed on top of whatever the motor puts in. On top of that I bet most of the forward rolling motion actually comes from you yourself putting in force by walking, not from the motor pushing forward. The wheels then just continue coasting. Most likely the motor just providing balance and preventing the wheels from rolling backwards as you push forward, like an advanced version of the under grip on cross-country-skis. Planting the feet to only rely on motor force would significantly reduce the distance and with both feet next to each other increase the likelihood of face plants when hitting small obstacles.
- alistairSH 4y agoA typical walking pace is 2.5-4mph. A 250% increase would then be 6.75 to 10mph, which is a jog to a run. I wonder how stable these are at speed vs a kick scooter or an electric city bike? At some point, I'd think the larger two-wheeled mobility devices would actually be more stable vs trying to hop from foot-to-foot?
- t-writescode 4y agonit: 6.75 is a run for a lot of people. It's even a sprint for some. 4mph is a very, very fast walk for a lot of people. A "becoming healthy" 5k (3.1-2) time is 30 minutes, which puts the runner at more than 6 miles per hour. A friend of mine is returning to health, and he was winded after a 30 minute walk at 1.8 mph the whole time.
- aidenn0 4y agoAccording to Wired it's 7MPH max speed.
- jchw 4y agoLet me guess: I need to pair it with my phone, create an account, accept a ridiculous EULA that forfeits my right to participate in a class action suit, and update the firmware to add a new mapping feature that tracks my whereabouts (as a feature of course, with a heat map or whatever.) I feel like these days, when I see a flashy new product, I need to be immediately informed that it doesn't require a smartphone or cloud app. I don't want to be hostage to my fucking shoes because Oracle acquired the company that runs the server for them.
- bilsbie 4y agoRemember the days we used to get excited about new technology?
- yokoprime 4y agoThis looks very much like roller skates with a ratchet in the back wheels. Not sure it’s new as such
- throwaway4aday 4y agoPlease make the effort to look into it before you post a deriding comment. There's a lot more to them than that and they are actually a very interesting piece of engineering both in hardware and software.
- freeone3000 4y agoBack when it made my life better instead of worse.
- mmaunder 4y agoIt’s worse. They’ll try to get recurring revenue from what should be a one-off expense for the customer. You’ll be offered personalized coaching. They’ll partner with one of those dieting companies that wants to replace your groceries. God help you if you enable alerts because the app to control the device will hound you endlessly until you sign up.
- jollyllama 4y agoI'm picturing people crashing into each other
- wiseleo 4y agoIt’s not that bad. I crashed into other people regularly while playing roller soccer. It feels like a bump at slow speeds.
- furyofantares 4y agoIt's not something I'd be an early adopter on, nor do I expect the first company to do something like this has a huge likelihood of success, but I'm certainly excited to see people working on more minimal mobility options.
- libraryatnight 4y agoYeah, these feel like the things you read about when you read about the history of some other accepted and much used piece of technology. Some useful things are born of ambitious monstrosities.
- moneywoes 4y agoHow does this effect gait or ergonomics
- lm28469 4y agoI love the current state of startups/capitalism, it's impossible to tell if a product is a satire, a joke, a scam to raise investors money and disappear, an AI generated product coupled with AI generated images and text, &c.
- avereveard 4y agoand pebbles, their most dangerous enemy
- harshaw 4y agoMy parents aren't too excited about using motorized scooters but have limited mobility due slow pace and/or joint pain. Could be an avenue for letting them be more mobile. EDIT: a Pittsburgh /CMU project! fantastic.
- alostpuppy 4y agoThat is a really good point. Hadn’t considered that.
- BadCookie 4y agoYeah, I wish they would address whether the shoes are appropriate for taking a slow/disabled walker up to average walking speeds. But if they explicitly addressed that use case, then the shoes might become a “medical device” and run into regulatory issues. I’m not sure…
- asdff 4y agoAssuming having 4lb weights on each foot is OK with their joint pain that is.
- egypturnash 4y agoHuh. If they make it down to a few hundred bucks with no history of them exploding/unexpectedly accelerating or stopping/etc then maybe I'll get some for a break from biking everywhere. I dunno how well they'd cope with New Orleans streets and sidewalks, though.
- flanbiscuit 4y agoTheir video just below the big hero section (see direct link below) mentions it being able to handle "roughest urban terrain, from cracked sidewalks to gravel". I visit New Orleans yearly (friends live there) and walk a lot around mid-city. I feel like they are viable but I'd love to see them in action to know for sure. Direct link to where it starts talking about the different terrain it can handle: https://youtu.be/8r0TPD5NUQ0?t=166 https://youtu.be/8r0TPD5NUQ0?t=166
- Fricken 4y agoWith an electric skateboard you don't have to swap out your shoes when it's time to use it.
- oxfeed65261 4y agoThese strap on to your shoes, they don’t replace shoes.
- asdff 4y agoA normal skateboard is honestly underrated, especially if you throw on some bigger softer wheels to get over the crud. You can go pretty quick with no effort on flatish ground.
- Fricken 4y agoWith an electric skateboard you don't have to swap out your shoes when it's time to use it. Bigger battery. More fastness if you so desire.
- BLO716 4y agoI'll be honest, at this price point I'd just snag a Boosted Board and get on with my life. Way less effort and like 50% cheaper in some configurations. Sorry, no win. They look awkward like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk forward.
- time_to_smile 4y ago> snag a Boosted Board Boosted went out of business in 2020. It's funny how many times I've seen a "revolutionary" transport product released in the tech word with the exact same set up and experience: I see a hyped up marketing video from the company, then look on for the inevitable wired video article trying the product out (that is clearly also mostly PR). All without seeing the price. Each time I think "hmm... I'd spend 250-500 to try that out if people like it" only to find out that the true price is close to an order of magnitude more than what my initial estimate. It was the same with Boosted as it is with these and the many other similar products I've completely forgotten about.
- mikotodomo 4y agoNeat, must be like how bike gears only move forward when you pedal them. It looks hella dorky though. I think some Adidas running shoes are much more practical and already the fastest.
- nateburke 4y agoAs a childhood owner of Moon Shoes, this product excites me greatly.
- anigbrowl 4y agoI walk more than anyone I know, and faster than anyone I know. These things look good in pure technological terms and I don't think it matters that they seem silly, all innovation looks like mere novelty on its first outing. But where they would not work for me is the ability to feel the ground all the time, from texture and incline to cracks and random objects. I wear regular trainers or skate shoes most of the time, but even in heavy boots/sandals designed not to have any flex in the sole, tactile feedback is important. I just can't see the wheels and gears delivering that the same way, nor lasting through the varieties of surfaces and forces that hard walking involves. I feel they would work great in a campus environment where you can high construction standards. A less obvious issue is that fast walking isn't just a fitness/surface matter. Most people are slow so maintaining a steady pace requires a surprising amount of lateral movement and mini-pivots, shifting one's weight around and so on. I suspect the blissful gliding depicted in the product videos involved a level of mutual awareness of and respect for other people's space and momentum that is often lacking in busy environments.
- HideousKojima 4y agoI'm a crazy fast walker too, my wife is always reminding me to slow down even when I'm walking at a normal pace. I'm guessing it's in part because I have really short legs and a really long torso relative to my height so I'm doing something subconsciously to compensate for it? Everyone else seems to walk crazy slow to me though. I'm definitely not the target demo for these shoes.
- ASalazarMX 4y agoGood news! You can twist your left heel and the Moonwalkers(TM) will engage regenerative mode, where you will be forced to walk slower, and your effort will recharge the Moonwalkers(TM) battery, or your friend's phones! Everyone will love it!
- dwringer 4y agoHuh, I was reading this thread thinking I'd found some like-minded individuals. I also have a relatively long torso and slightly shorter legs (only a couple inches either way from average, mind you). I never really thought about that being connected but it could very well be. A big reason I move at the speed I do is because I rely on my torso's inertia a lot, and I often feel when walking slower with a crowd that my natural ability to leverage inertia for efficiency has been impeded, and I feel like it's more stressful on my knees, etc.
- emmelaich 4y agoSome specs - the interesting ones to me. Top Speed: 7 mph Range: 5-7mi Charge Time: 1.5h Water Resistant: IP54 other specs at https://shiftrobotics.io/products/moonwalkers https://shiftrobotics.io/products/moonwalkers
- hbn 4y agoThat's pretty weak water resistance no? 4 means it can handle splashes but nothing more. I'd be concerned using these during/after rain at $1400 + tax
- gtirloni 4y agoI came here to post about this. Suddenly you're paying more attention to water that will ruin your 1400usd skates.
- asdff 4y agoYou aren't even supposed to skateboard in the rain because you could corrode the bearings.
- hbn 4y agoWell these seem to be more focused on getting around in your regular commute, not doing cool tricks at a skate park. And again, a typical skateboard is not $1400+.
- nashashmi 4y agoObviously v1.0 will be less savvy. But even later, I think the idea of reforming natural walks is crazy. They would be better off ... selling a hover board.
- moogleii 4y agoThe child in me is excited, but the adult in me is skeptical of the stairs mode. Unless there's some very obvious physical signal that the skates are in stairs mode, I can see some people injuring themselves trying to mimic the stairs demo because the skates weren't actually in stairs mode.
- threads2 4y agoAt least they'll probably be on the first step. ...if they're going up.
- sirtimbly 4y ago"Urban mobility" is such a rich vein for startups, it makes me think living in a city is pretty awful.
- tristor 4y agoThis concept is interesting to me, but I don't think I'm the target market because I'm already a fast walker and walk more than 5 miles on a daily basis. Most of the time, I am making effort to slow my walking speed so others can keep up when in a group, rather than speeding myself up. I like the idea though, and if this takes off I could see it being helpful for a lot of people.
- JustSomeNobody 4y agoSo... I'm curious, how do these fail? Let's say an axle or motor fails, does the wheel spin or lock up? Which would be better for making sure I don't break my nose on the pavement?
- nprateem 4y agoShift robotics. I'm sure these will soon be known as shit shoes.
- tejohnso 4y agoI could see these for some niche markets similar to Segway. Personally, when I want to walk faster I jog.
- metadat 4y agoHow would they perform walking over unpaved gravel? It's difficult to imagine it going smoothly. Day by day, the future of humanity is converging more and more to Wall-E: https://www.thelist.com/img/gallery/things-only-adults-notice-in-wall-e/wall-e-is-wildly-fat-shaming-1565787894.jpg https://www.thelist.com/img/gallery/things-only-adults-notic...
- gcanyon 4y agoOver gravel you probably want larger tires. One Wheel or Evolve all terrain would do it. https://onewheel.com https://evolveskateboardsusa.com/products/gtr-bamboo-all-terrain
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sanjayio 4y agoIt's so easy to map to to Wall-E but from my perspective this is in a very different direction. You still have to move to get this to work. This will essentially allow you to walk when you considered Ubering or driving. You'll be less fatigued and less sweaty when you reach your destination.
- metadat 4y agoYou don't think there will be a skate mode enabling the user to stand still and be transported? The Wall-E people will probably desire it.
- turtlebits 4y agoThere are already electric skateboards, scooters, one-wheels, bikes, etc. I see nothing wrong with electric skates (although range would probably be terrible without a separate battery pack)
- lukas099 4y agoMaybe they will sense the terrain and just turn off the motor.
- dcastm 4y agoCool idea but seems like the kind of product bound to have the same fate as Google glasses or Segway.
- dsalzman 4y agoMotor Roller Skates – Early Personalized Transportation For Each Foot 1906 https://theoldmotor.com/?p=139342 https://theoldmotor.com/?p=139342 People have always been in a hurry
- mikrl 4y agoCouldn’t resist the shitpost: put on shoes start running crash and burn, shoes explode in a fireball Shift Robotics QA team: shocked pikachu
- rcarr 4y agoIf you want to walk faster, start rucking. If you get used to walking with a weighted backpack on regularly, you will be rapid without one. It also has the added benefit that you don't look like an extra from Nathan Barley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZptMIcdCcpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZptMIcdCcpI
- modzu 4y agorollerskates seem better?
- mrguyorama 4y agoIt's so stupid how much they scream "They aren't skates!!!" while all their demo gifs are definitely people treating them as you would a skate. Goes to show you how much of this is marketing crap instead of focusing on the actual product.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- r_singh 4y agoMan, this is so true. They’re electronic, stabilised version of skates. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before reading the above.
- scotty79 4y agoI think the aim of this company is to be bought out by Amazon with all stock and production capacity. After that a single unit won't see the consumer before everybody in fulfillment centers has these on their feet.
- fleshdaddy 4y agoMy concern is this could probably be a major liability. Strapping all your employees to electric roller skates that make them move faster seems like it could be a recipe for disaster if someone takes a spill at high speed. Especially since a jury would take one look at those things and see something closer to x games equipment than like “enterprise mobility device”.
- 988747 4y agoThis thing would work equally well without any engine or batteries - it's called "roller-skates", and has been there for over a century.
- asdff 4y agoA skateboard works great too for moving faster around town, and is pretty fun to use as well.
- throwaway920102 4y agoThe muscles you engage and the effort required in skating are entirely different.
- sanjayio 4y agoNot to mention the level of skill required and time to achieve that skill.
- wiseleo 4y agoI disagree as a proficient skater. I can do various street style tricks and play roller soccer as well as dance. Their innovation is the stacked wheels to mimic the contact patch of a much larger wheel. They give you similar ability to traverse road imperfections as a tracked vehicle. I have fallen victim to small rocks despite being an expert skater.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- whyenot 4y agoCool! If they ever come out with a more robust version that works well on trails and unpaved surfaces, I'd look into it. Depending on the range, it looks like it would be pretty useful for doing fieldwork like rare plant surveys.
- w0s 4y agoIt's going to suck carrying 4Kg of shoes home when the battery starts crapping out after 2 years. Also so will the knee injuries from wearing 2Kg of shoe on each food.
- tipsytoad 4y agoCan I state the obvious? They look dumb as hell
- gadflyinyoureye 4y agoHell does not look dumb. It's either terrifying or medieval cool. Just look at Metal album covers.
- aussieshibe 4y agoWhy is that obvious? They look cool to me.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- timeon 4y agoI used to make fun of Crocs. Now I have one pair for garden.
- omginternets 4y agoCall me old-fashioned, but I'd rather walk slowly than look like a tool. (To say nothing of the invasive rent-seeking that others have noted.)
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pnf 4y agoFaster? Hard pass. Guaranteed to make you slightly taller? How do I invest?
- mise_en_place 4y ago2023’s Juicero
- mianos 4y agoThis is exactly what I thought when I saw the Mori CNC mill running.
- UncleOxidant 4y agoLooks cool. But not $1400 cool.
- lesuorac 4y agoDo they make these without the motors? I honestly wouldn't mind some rollerskates I just strap onto a shoe.
- p0pcult 4y agoI am actually fascinated with these, enough to seriously consider a deposit. But I am very concerned about their ability to tackle an "AI-drivetrain" when they can't even get counting numbers right. To wit, from their Quick Start page: (Also, the "Rough Terrain" text...hmm. Maybe this is all a ChatGPT-produced hoax?) >1. Charging >Charging Moonwalkers is the first step after unboxing. They use a USB-C connection and will charge in about an hour with a charger over 50W. >2. Powering On >Turning Moonwalkers on is the second step after charging. Its simple, but we thought a video would be helpful anyways. >2. How To Walk >A quick lesson on how to start walking in Moonwalkers. >2. Adjusting Fit >The better your fit, the better the algorithm works. You want Moonwalkers to have a snug fit to your shoes. Not too loose, not too tight. >2. Understanding Indicators >Moonwalkers have indicator lights on both shoes to communicate with you. This video shows you how to understand them. >2. Switching Modes >Change modes with foot-driven gesture control for seamless transitions between SHIFT and LOCK modes. >2. Rough Terrain >Pair text with an image to focus on your chosen product, collection, or blog post. Add details on availability, style, or even provide a review. >2. Cleaning >How to keep your Moonwalkers clean to extend their life. >2. Changing Your Wheels >Just like car tires, Moonwalkers' wheels will need to be replaced after extended use. This video will show you how.
- laserlight 4y agoSpoiler: You have to watch 30 seconds of history of humanity BS to see how the thing actually works.
- siva7 4y agoNow i'd like shoes where i can walk underwater :)
- skykooler 4y agoThis seems like a much better engineering solution then my current project, which is a pair of motorized Heelys.
- bmer 4y agoHow safe is this for knees, ankles, and hips?
- dwheeler 4y agoThis is interesting. They look like roller skates/blades, but if there's really that much tech, they might be easier to use. It's too costly for most, but if they catch on the price could come down. Bike have advantages, but take up a lot of space at their destination. Their closest competitor (beyond walking/running) appears to be foldable electric scooters. They take less space than a foldable scooter, but I'm not sure they take up that much less space, and I expect scooters to be able to go further on a charge. It does look like the moonwalkers are much easier to use when switching to/from stairs. Whether or not that matters depends on how often you encounter stairs.
- defterGoose 4y agoTraditional roller blades would be a pretty close competitor. Replace the slight inconvenience of having to charge them with the slight convenience of having to learn how to skate. Skateboards and longboards would be other options.
- reidjs 4y agoThe difference is these have zero learning curve, which is important for rich, lazy people.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- asdff 4y agoI would be shocked if they had zero learning curve to be honest. It's an awkward movement on a vehicle you aren't used to. People would wipe out bad when escooters hit the scene too, and they supposedly don't have any learning curve according to the companies laying them on the sidewalks that is.
- prophesi 4y agoAs an avid inline-skater, another con to inlines is that they can be quite the hassle to put on and take off. And when going inside a building, you have to stuff them in a large enough bag or tote them around. If you're using them to get to another destination, you'll also need to carry around your shoes (and a fresh pair of socks) the entire time. Being able to simply strap in the shoes you're already wearing is pretty enticing.
- trynewideas 4y agoThis is a very cool thing that I would genuinely want to try, marketed about as far away from me as possible. Why do they spend so much of their first-impression marketing copy repeating how they aren't skates no less than five times on the homepage? Because people fall over when they wear skates? Because my first thought was, "Finally, heelies but for adults! And also for any shoe, and also motorized!" Why is going off-road with them an option, much less a desirable feature? Why does this need "AI machine learning algorithms" to implement a PID controller? Why are they $1,400(?!?) but only come in one size and ship only to the US?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- ComputerGuru 4y agoThe video voiceover is terrible quality with terrible enunciation. Great production values otherwise demand that a better voice actor w/ better recording equipment should have been used.
- ynab4 4y agoHahahahaha this can't be real
- gibolt 4y agoThe shoes are around 4lbs each. I wonder how much of that is the battery and if you couldn't get them to more negligible weight with a connected/worn battery.
- carb 4y agoCompared to the weight of the user, does the weight of the shoes matter? And would a worn battery help longevity vs built-in given that it still contributes to the total weight of the user+shoe?
- gibolt 4y ago4 lbs of weight on each foot is a lot of weight. Probably not too bad when in a gait, but walking up stairs or long use would put high stress on your joints. Carrying 100 lbs on your back is easier than in your hands which is easier than on your foot.
- toast0 4y agoPosition of the weight on the body might make a difference to comfort. OTOH, so would cabling.
- wiseleo 4y agoThey are safer than scooters. Scooters are too vulnerable to road imperfections. A pebble can send you flying. They’re on my wishlist now. :)
- defterGoose 4y agoUnless these have independent suspension per wheel, they're going to suffer the same problem. Best way to increase pebble-stop resistance is to increase wheel diameter and compliance; ala scooter.
- asdff 4y agoFor an electric scooter? A pothole maybe but they can handle some gnarliness just fine with their 8" diameter wheels.
- ur-whale 4y agohttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shiftmoonwalkers/moonwalkers-the-worlds-fastest-shoes https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shiftmoonwalkers/moonwa...
- beders 4y agoI can't find any reliable information on how they would perform going down a hill. Take San Fran: If you'd be on roller skates going down - say - Oak St: you'd have to continuously break. Surprised Wired hasn't tested something like that.
- LarryMullins 4y agoTheir website says "we automatically regulate your speed downhill." but it doesn't say where that energy goes. Brake pads I guess, or maybe rheostatic braking.
- jrockway 4y agoCould also charge the battery. I feel like regenerative braking is common enough that it could end up in a product like this (but at the same time, don't expect bells and whistles from v1).
- asdff 4y agoCan you regeneratively brake if the battery is full?
- jrockway 4y agoI was wondering about that too. I guess I have to say no. If the battery explodes if it's charged above 4.2V and the current voltage is 4.2V, then I guess you shouldn't try to put any more energy into the battery. I don't have an electric car but my understanding is that you don't actually charge them to full (it says 100% but the battery can safely accept more charge). Maybe they would do something similar here. But yeah, I don't really know. What happens if you have an electric car and live on the top of the mountain and the first 10 minutes of your grocery store involves trading elevation for battery charge? Does your car fail sooner than the person that lives at the bottom of a hill and expends most of their energy in the first 10 minutes? No idea.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
- wiseleo 4y agoWell, I might as well start prototyping tracked shoes. My version would have a wearable battery park with a quick disconnect.
- JasonBorne 4y ago$1399. So it's just for hyper wealthy people
- d2049 4y agoReminds me of Paul Graham's essay about why the Segway failed. http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html Same principle here. People don't look cool wearing strange robot sandal shoes.
- trekkie1024 4y agoIsn't that what people said about the first AirPods? They look dorky, no one would be caught wearing them, etc. And look where we are now :)
- randomluck040 4y agoThis is comparing Apple (out of all companies) selling something we were using prior to the AirPods for a price which was in an acceptable range for the target audience with a dorky kinda-add-on for shoe to walk faster. I’m not sure if it holds.
- trekkie1024 4y agoThat's a reasonable point... what would you say is a price (if any) at which you could see these become mainstream? I'm personally ambivalent on the design but think the product could be worth trying!
- randomluck040 4y agoI‘m not sure since I can’t quite figure out the target audience. Depending on the amounts a person walks every day it might be worth it but I’m on the bike or in the metro most of the time and the claimed 250% increase in speed doesn’t come close to the bicycle. That being said, I’d try them for sure and if they improve my life, I think I could live with the design. On a related note: people were Yeezy and Balenciaga shoes which (subjective) look awful to me.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> what people said about the first AirPods? Did they? My reading is people are parsimonious with paradigms. Graham's motorcycle draws on the horse. AirPods drew on earbuds, which almost universally went to great lengths to avoid the hearing-aid look, and which also got a boost from performers [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-ear_monitor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-ear_monitor
- kornhole 4y agoLooks like a great engineering effort. Electric skates are for the same niche who would buy electric bikes. I want to keep my legs strong and keep the points of potential failure fewer.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- googlryas 4y agoFunny, I had this exact idea probably 15 years ago, but I thought to myself after 5 minutes " no, that's stupid"
- squokko 4y agoHaving the idea is like 0.01% of getting a product like this to market. I have an idea for a flying car, clothes that don't get dirty, kitchen tables that wipe themselves down, etc etc.
- googlryas 4y agoOf course, but that wasn't my point. My point was that I thought about it for a few minutes before deciding it was stupid, not that it was some killer idea which I just couldn't execute on. We'll see if I was right on that I guess.
- thelock85 4y agoAt the price point and unique function, the first thing I compared these to are Yeezys, Balenciaga sneakers, and rare Jordan colorways. I think if that if the sneaker status culture accepts these (not saying they will) then the company will have a real chance at breaking into the consumer shoe market (not sure that's their goal?). Alternatively, I'm wondering who's walking around all day in their job function and if there is some type of ROI on equipping them with shoes like these.
- permo-w 4y agogiven the low pay and general low-status of walking-based jobs, I'd wager it's either one or the other
- wyre 4y agoWhat’s stopping this product from having a similar recall to OneWheel? When the battery dies the software isn’t able to acc/decelerate the wheels to counterbalance the user leading causing them to fall and likely injure themselves. However, the Moonwalkers require the user to strap in their feet increasing the chances of injury because they cannot separate themselves from the device. The only place I can see this having more value than an e-bike or scooter would be in an airport.
- teawrecks 4y agoIn theory you could make the system refuse to start moving when the battery is less than 8%, and demand to come to a safe stop when under 4% or something like that. For all I know, that's already what it does.
- LarryMullins 4y agoThe OneWheel nosedives into the ground when it dies, which stops it fast. Presuming these behave the same when dying as they do when braking, it seems like the user should be able to compensate for it.
- actionfromafar 4y agoThat sounds dangerous?
- LarryMullins 4y agoThe OneWheel is, certainly. When it nosedives it stops instantly. When when these moon shoes brake, they stop in about a meter. If they die the same way they brake, it might not be totally safe but it should be much safer than the OneWheel. Also if the user is already going through the motions of walking, they might be in a better place mentally to catch themselves.. relative to the onewheel, where both their feet are planted in the moment right before the fall. This said, I'd still want to wear a helmet while testing these.
- teeray 4y ago
- jojobas 4y agoLooks like an easy way to break your tailbone. Ok you want motorized roller skates, so why walk in them (low gear) rather than actually skate (high gear)?
- pleb_nz 4y agoNice. Personally, I want shoes that make walking harder so I burn more calories and get fitter as I walk.
- russdill 4y agoNo problem, they just need a firmware update to run the wheels in reverse.
- felipemnoa 4y agoGreat, they've reinvented skates.
- Deprogrammer9 4y agoReally? Are people actually falling for this one? WTF
- LarryMullins 4y agoI'm not sure about falling for these, but falling from these does seem likely.
- Garlef 4y agoMy prince point would be 200-400 ($/€)
- Tade0 4y agoA couple years ago I saw a child sporting shoes similar to these: https://www.sestoshoex.com.au/collections/roller-shoes https://www.sestoshoex.com.au/collections/roller-shoes Switching from walking to rolling like it was nothing. I don't think there's a market for this product if you can achieve half of its advantages for a fraction of the price.
- ojame 4y agoHeh, that was my local shoe shop for quite a while... never thought i'd see it in a comment on HN. "Heelys" were their common name (it's a brand) and they were very popular in the early 2000's. Kids had them everywhere - it was impossible to go to the shops without seeing a kid sliding around. A comparison to offer though is "why would you pay 10x the price for an electric bike?". I don't think it's an entirely fair analogy (electric bikes let people go farther than they typically could). If you use Heelys, they take a fair bit of effort - it's more comparable to rollerblading. I reckon the Moonwalkers are more 'assisted fast walking' - i can see lot's of middle aged people being more attracted to that than 'roller blading on a budget'. That said I personally will just continue to walk normally!
- baby 4y agoAlways wanted heelys but never got them when I was a kid. 20y later I decided to buy them as an adult. Well first, very bad idea in SF due to the hills. But also, not comfortable at all, and kinda dangerous. Returned them pretty quickly
- latchkey 4y agoThis is the original brand... https://heelys.com/ https://heelys.com/ I bought a pair when I worked in the SF Armory because it was such a long walk to the bathrooms. Used to get a lot of funny looks from the models.
- endisneigh 4y agoSeems overzealous imho. A razor a5 lux is likely faster, $100 and gives you the infinite potential energy differential available on any hill. And it only weighs as much as a gallon of water. I’m curious how much better this is from simply skating with inline skates.
- SamBorick 4y agoall of the things this product wants to solved would be better served by removing cars from our cities. Like everything can be in walking distance, when they're built within walking distance in the first place. The founder almost got killed by a car. it wasn't because he was on a scooter.
- Cpoll 4y ago> all of the things this product wants to solved would be better served by removing cars from our cities. So... the product should pivot to that? Not disagreeing with the sentiment, but in most cities this doesn't seem like a pragmatic approach ("pry my ~gun~ car from my cold dead hands").
- MagicMoonlight 4y agoI don’t want to live in a medieval village where nobody ever travels more than 5 miles from their home except the local lord.
- jimmytucson 4y agoThis looks great but now that I’m thinking about getting around on foot faster, wouldn’t roller skating be even even faster than these, and cheaper?
- tastysandwich 4y ago> 2.5x walking speed without extra effort If we're normalising speeding around the city at 2.5x speed, can't we just start walking faster instead? Like, with our legs? It's free and no extra equipment required. (Yes some people have mobility issues. I don't think they're the primary target market.) Walking is really good for you, too.
- satvikpendem 4y ago> can't we just start walking faster instead? Like, with our legs? But...that takes extra effort, which these shoes purport to not have. I don't understand your question.
- baby 4y agoHe’s pointing out the same thing the similar annually reddit thread brings up: why aren’t people running or jogging in the street instead of walking? Conformism mostly. But who cares honestly, you don’t get that much by jogging, you can already do it but it’s not a replacement for faster ways of locomotion
- satvikpendem 4y ago> Conformism mostly. Much as people on the internet deem it so, I'm pretty sure people don't want to expend extra effort than necessary walking down the street, nor do they want to arrive sweaty at whatever place they're heading to either.
- asdff 4y agoPeople already jog to nowhere. Why not jog to the store and come back with a loaf of bread and actually get something done at the same time?
- satvikpendem 4y agoPeople already do that. But if you think a sizable proportion of the population will do that, you are mistaken.
- NateEag 4y agoI tend to be skeptical of new tech, but I started grinning watching the video. I am far more entertained by and interested in these than I expected to be. Maybe that's because I used to commute by train, and these seem perfect for shortening the walk on either end / helping you avoid becoming a sweat-mess during the walk. I'm really curious how hard it is to replace or swap the batteries. The website says they use 18650 cells, so if you can access the batteries with a screwdriver, I could easily imagine doubling or tripling your range with a backpack and some spares charged overnight.
- l0b0 4y agoThey are doing the usual lie of saying 250% increase when they actually meant 70-180% increase. The first Google result for "walking speed"[1] refers to CDC for "2.5 to 4 mph"[2]. The Moonwalkers specs[3] say "Top Speed: 7 mph", which is a 180% increase (2.8x) over 2.5 mph and a 70% increase (1.7x) over 4 mph. [1] https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=walking+speed https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=walking+s... [2] https://www.nike.com/hr/a/how-long-does-it-take-to-walk-a-mile https://www.nike.com/hr/a/how-long-does-it-take-to-walk-a-mi... [3] https://shiftrobotics.io/products/moonwalkers https://shiftrobotics.io/products/moonwalkers
- rcme 4y agoFrom what I see, they say “2.5 times faster than walking”. That’s an accurate statement.
- Wevah 4y agoIt’s the trend of using “faster” when what’s meant is “as fast” that I don’t like.
- hurril 4y agoIt really isn't and it should be trivial to intuit this. What is 1 times faster? If your interpretation is correct, that's not faster at all. Do you stand by this?
- kilotaras 4y ago> What is 1 times faster? If your interpretation is correct, that's not faster at all. I'm no OP, but I would stand by this, yes. In <= 1 case "as fast" instead of "faster" would probably be preferable, but for 2.5x I see no problem.
- hurril 4y agoSomething that is 50% faster, is in fact only going half as fast according to you? My car is 1 times faster than yours so it's so much faster that it isn't faster at all. It's just as fast.
- deafpolygon 4y agoFor $1400, I can speed-drive myself in a pre-owned car. Or ride a motorcycle, or get an E-bike. The price is gonna have to come way down for it to be palatable.
- dahdum 4y agoTheir early market is going to be urban tech enthusiast commuters. I think $1400 is low enough to get sales started. I wouldn't buy these but I've bought plenty of other silly things.
- deafpolygon 4y agoYeah, but most likely they will get banned in urban centers in many places in the same way electric scooters were.
- doc_gunthrop 4y agoMany of the critical comments here seem to focus only on the high price for these devices, but what about the clunkiness factor? - These "shoes" weigh in at 4.2 lbs each, which IMO makes it prohibitively tedious to deal with. In comparison, a typical cushioned running shoe weighs in at around 11 ounces. - The extra height off the ground results in a loss of stability and, consequently, a loss in dexterity. - It seems to function best when moving in a straight line, but impractical otherwise (like turning a corner). Perhaps there will be improvements to address these issues in later iterations, but if the novelty isn't that big a deal, you may as well just get a pair of rollerskates.
- marginalia_nu 4y ago> - These "shoes" weigh in at 4.2 lbs each, which IMO makes it prohibitively tedious to deal with. In comparison, a typical cushioned running shoe weighs in at around 11 ounces. Dunno, people have marched in terrain plenty long in pretty heavy boots and strapped full of equipment. Turns out leg muscles are pretty strong and when you walk on flat surfaces you really don't lift your feet very much.
- theossuary 4y agoSuper curious what it'd feel like to take these and use them to keep a person in place. They could be amazing for VR locomotion.
- aspyct 4y agoWell, what a laughably terrible idea :D - the shoes are going to be heavy and hard to lift - the "lift your heel to not die in stairs" feature sounds fun Might as well ride one of those electric scooters...
- KolenCh 4y agoAnother factor to consider is that walking that much faster than average traffic is difficult in dense place. While I don't have a measurement, I typically walk ~twice as fast as the average speed on the street. I once was walking in a very crowded bridge in Hong Kong, and the "friction" I can from the surrounding traffic is tremendous, not to mention you need to be very agile in these situations to not get any trouble. Also, I wonder if anyone really need this tool to walk 2.5x faster. May be because I have long legs, but I found that open up the legs (the angle of the swinging motion) and increasing frequency can already speed up a lot without being too tiring (bigger angle is easier than higher frequency.)
- yummypaint 4y agoAnother small tip is to consciously use the calf muscles to push off at the end of each step. Perhaps others already do this but for me it's about a 20% speed increase without changing anything else.
- rkagerer 4y agoI hate to piss on something someone's obviously worked pretty hard on, but my gut is screaming these are going to be a flop. Too complex to be durable, too heavy, too unfashionable, too expensive. Having to "switch modes" to deal with stairs. The situations in the rosy advertising are probably not a great place to use them (eg. I can imagine difficulty with the sudden stops / sidesteps / evasions you sometimes need to make in a crowd, especially if you're going faster than the flow. And I don't care how good you think your hardware is, rocks and dirt and the realities of weather destroy my simple shoes over time - good luck with robotic ones). I just don't see how these offer superiority to passive, well-established alternatives like rollerblading, etc. that aren't difficult to learn. It's a bit sad saying all this as the tech does seem neat and they look like they could be fun to try.
- LittleBox 4y agoWhat problem does this product solve? The problem of not living fast enough? I think, in that case I'd rather have a shoe that forcefully makes me walk slower...