The Moonwalkers went somewhat viral in 2022 when the corporate behind them, Shift Robotics, promised it had created “the world’s quickest footwear.” They’re not precisely footwear, although: they strap on prime of your present footwear such as you’re placing on a pair of Tevas, they usually put 10 wheels beneath every foot to show each step right into a glide, such as you’re perpetually strolling on a shifting sidewalk. They’re grownup Heelys, mainly, solely larger, higher-tech, and dearer.
Now, Shift Robotics is again with a brand new pair, the Moonwalkers X, which the corporate says it plans to point out off on the CES gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas subsequent week. The brand new footwear are lighter — 3.2 kilos on every foot, which remains to be so much however a full pound lighter than the unique — and are supposed to be a lot simpler to be taught and use. Shift Robotics says it overhauled the management system for higher maneuvering in tight areas, improved shock absorption, and switched from 10 wheels to 6 on every foot.
One essential factor we don’t know? The value. The unique Moonwalkers are $1,400 a pair, and Shift Robotics says solely that it’ll announce the X value when the footwear begin delivery within the first half of this 12 months.
Shift has all the time imagined these because the kind of factor you would possibly put on in on a regular basis life
Shift says the Moonwalkers are primarily supposed for enterprise and industrial makes use of for jobs that require a variety of motion. You may think about how, say, an individual packing containers in an Amazon warehouse would possibly profit from simpler and quicker strolling. However Shift has all the time additionally imagined these because the kind of factor you would possibly put on in on a regular basis life, like Rollerblades you by no means must take off.
Within the years earlier than the pandemic, numerous corporations have been exploring this sort of factor: Segway-Ninebot’s Drift W1 electrical skates have been one other spin on the electrical skates thought, and the Hoverwheel was as soon as seen as a successor to the hoverboard. None of those concepts actually took off, although — scooters seem to have a future on some metropolis and campus streets, however we’re nonetheless ready on a mainstream revolution in private transit. However I’m simply saying, I’ve heard a lot worse concepts than “Heelys for grown-ups.”