The creators of the “Moonwalkers” repeat that they are shoes, not skates, that we walk with, that we don’t skate. But the fact is that these shoes still look a lot like roller skates… However, they are much less rigid: the front bends to follow the movement of the toes, for example, and the wheels are not aligned so as not to disturb the balance.
The “Moonwalkers” are not necessarily discreet, but they fit easily in a backpack. More practical therefore than an electric scooter. They run on electricity with a range of about ten kilometers and recharge in about an hour and a half, on a USB port.
How do they “work”?
These shoes work thanks to a 300 watt electric motor to power the eight small wheels and thanks to an essential artificial intelligence which adapts to the walk of the person wearing the “Moowalkers”. No need to learn to do so, as with rollerblades. The operation is very instinctive, promise the creators. A slight movement of the foot allows the shoe to be blocked when going up or down the stairs, to avoid unpleasant surprises! The maximum speed is 11 kilometers per hour, as if you were running. Such a speed which explains why the shoe would need a meter to brake completely. As for the downhill speed, it is controlled so as not to spin like the wind and risk getting hurt in the event of a fall.
Who created them?
It was Shift Robotics, a start-up from Pittsburgh, in the eastern United States, which developed the “Moonwalkers”. Xunjie Zang, the founder, has assembled a team of specialist robotics engineers trained at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the best in the sector. Pittsburgh, it should be known, is one of the technological centers of the country: not everything happens in Silicon Valley. Five years ago, Xunjie Zang was nearly hit by a car while riding an electric scooter to work. He decided to walk instead and he found this mode of travel particularly slow. “Human beings have been walking the same way for six million years…“: hence his idea, as he describes it in a video presentation.
Shift Robotics has launched a crowdfunding campaign that allows the pair of shoes to be purchased at a discount. Count around 1100 dollars (1060 euros) all the same. But when the model comes out in the spring – if it does come out, which is never guaranteed with these kinds of campaigns – it will cost 1400 dollars (1349 euros).