The makers of the wheeled shoes promise to turbo-charge your daily stroll, allowing you to walk at 250% of your usual speed. Could they be the future of pedestrianism?
alking is all right, isn’t it, but it’s a bit slow. A bit ponderous. Wouldn’t it be good if you could walk, but, like, go faster? That is the premise of: a pair of wheeled shoes that promise you can walk at running speed, without any of the effort of actually running. “Walk how you usually do, and our AI adapts to you,” reads the website blurb. “It’s not skating; it’s genuinely walking, so no new skills are necessary to learn.
“Feel the weight and the bulk of it, get used to it,” Yang says. He’s watching patiently as I strut about, feeling the shoes’ heft. The shoes, which are basically what happens when you put an engine in some roller-skates, are great. When I’m wobbling backwards, a motor slows down the 10 wheels on the sole, propping me back upright. When I unintentionally tip forwards, the wheels seem to accelerate a bit and I don’t end up falling over.
The developers of Moonwalkers, Shift Robotics, are very keen that they should not be called roller-skates. There’s no freewheeling, so, unlike roller-skates, there’s no risk of being involuntarily propelled off into the horizon. The shoes sense when to speed up or slow down, and, with a bit of practice, you can control the pace by thrusting down harder or more gently with your toes.
Do I look cool? I shout, as I whiz past. I’m still not very good at stopping, so I have to carry on for another 30 metres before I can turn around and come back for the answerKickstarter campaign That’s all well and good, but what do the general public think? At Brooklyn Bridge, I’m 30 minutes into my trial – the battery on Moonwalkers only lasts about an hour – and scooting past two women who look at me and my shoes, with a cross between interest and amusement.
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