[HN Gopher] Moonwalkers: Shoes that make you walk faster (pre-or...
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Moonwalkers: Shoes that make you walk faster (pre-order)
Author : saikatsg
Score : 238 points
Date : 2023-01-05 18:40 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (shiftrobotics.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (shiftrobotics.io)
| tipsytoad wrote:
| Can I state the obvious? They look dumb as hell
| gadflyinyoureye wrote:
| Hell does not look dumb. It's either terrifying or medieval
| cool. Just look at Metal album covers.
| aussieshibe wrote:
| Why is that obvious? They look cool to me.
| timeon wrote:
| I used to make fun of Crocs. Now I have one pair for garden.
| [deleted]
| thot_experiment wrote:
| Odds 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".
| tduberne wrote:
| Re looking silly, I am not so sure. Only 10 years ago no one
| would have expected adults to proudly navigate the city on
| flashy colored elwctric kick scooters, and yet look at any big
| (european?) city nowadays. Even investment bankers in tailor-
| made suits move on those abominations as if it was the next
| lamborghini.
|
| I actually find them quite attractive as a means to access my
| local train station: easier to take with me than a bike or kick
| scooter, apparently much safer than rollerblades or skateboard.
| Just not for that price, but let's give it a few years to see
| if it takes on.
| croes wrote:
| Wasn't the selfie stick in a book about useless inventions?
| pmontra wrote:
| Not useless but it went extinct in my part of the world. I
| can't remember when I saw one in Europe. People shot
| selfies with their arms again. Is it still a thing
| somewhere else?
| csharpminor wrote:
| Aesthetic taste and fashion are hard to predict; people said
| the same thing of Crocs. In fact, many workplaces banned Crocs
| because they were considered so aesthetically offensive. Crocs,
| Inc. is up 725% over its lifetime.
|
| People are really into weird shoes right now (see pretty much
| all of sneakerhead culture). I could see this taking off if
| partnered with the right influencer and offered at about
| $500-$600.
|
| On Chinese knockoffs: yes, this is a danger with nearly any
| product made today. If they achieve brand prominence then the
| risk will be mitigated. Their apparent moat seems to be making
| walking feel natural. This may be temporarily difficult to
| reverse engineer and give them some lead time.
| alexb_ wrote:
| For 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 wrote:
| UPS and similar companies might invest. Companies with big
| warehouses.
|
| I'm skeptical Amazon would.
| RajT88 wrote:
| Agree. 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.
| pengaru wrote:
| > That said, when I lived in Chicago, I used to see a lady
| who rollerbladed to the office.
|
| I used to skateboard from a lot by the Metra station to the
| office @ State and Madison.
|
| Most fellow commuters I encountered were visibly bothered by
| sharing the walkways with someone adult-sized traveling 2-3X
| their speed. I'd expect a similar level of antisocial
| friction with these shoes.
|
| Though it has been well over a decade since I did that, maybe
| people have since warmed up to sharing sidewalks with
| ebikes/scooters by now.
| zanecodes wrote:
| From 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!
| RajT88 wrote:
| Totally agree. I biked around the streets, and it's tough.
| Bike lanes are somewhat respected by drivers, and somewhat
| respected by people parking on the street, which in
| aggregate makes them not all that well respected...
|
| People get creamed on bikes all the time in bike lanes.
| Pedestrians on the sidewalks and bike paths just don't pay
| attention to anything other than what is 3-4 feet from
| them, and are always forcing you to dodge if you have any
| kind of speed if you're just even jogging.
|
| It's more a cultural problem than a city planning problem.
| Contrast how seriously bike lanes are treated in (say)
| Munich, which is very seriously.
| selectodude wrote:
| Chicago's pavement will always be in difficult shape due to
| the climate and, more importantly, the incredible amounts
| of road salt used to keep the roads ice-free.
|
| I am seeing more and more e-bikes though, which, since you
| can keep up with traffic relatively well, allow you ride in
| the car lane under most circumstances. That's what I do,
| and if some dickhead really feels the need to pass me when
| I'm going >25mph, I'll give them a wave at the next light.
| And probably be shot in the chest one of these days.
| tomcam wrote:
| That last sentence was absolutely wonderful and caused me
| to do a spit take
| shadowgovt wrote:
| I wonder where the break-even point hits that it becomes
| cheaper to plumb hot water pipes or electrified heating
| elements under better-built sidewalks than to resurface
| every year.
| zanecodes wrote:
| Quite a bit of the Inner Loop in Chicago actually already
| has heated sidewalks, if the "Mechanically Heated"
| plaques on them are to be believed.
| jasonwatkinspdx wrote:
| It might be a viable product industrially, eg pickers working
| in large warehouses or similar. But it has to be actually
| better than just a basic Lime style electric scooter.
| williamdclt wrote:
| That's expressing a lot of confidence for something that I
| assume you don't know much about?
|
| I've repeatedly looked for this exact product in the past,
| "wheel-augmented shoes", for my 10-to-30 minutes travels (to
| the shop, to the public transportation, to a friend's...). So
| as anecdata, I would absolutely be interested in this: maybe
| not at $1400 but I'd certainly pay a few hundreds.
|
| > cultural association of sillyness and the aesthetic disaster
| that is "rolly-sandals with shoes".
|
| I don't know how many "that's what was said of Airpods" are
| needed for this argument to die. Actually, I'm much less
| weirded out by these shoes than I was of airpods, I don't find
| them silly at all
| time_to_smile wrote:
| > I don't know how many "that's what was said of Airpods" are
| needed for this argument to die
|
| Apple has always been the exception that proves the rule in
| the types of cases. Very, very few companies are able to
| create demand rather than merely satisfying it.
|
| On top of that only experience with Airpods is as the current
| gen teenage reality blockers and older people screaming
| through static about how they must have run theirs through
| the wash.
| occamsrazorwit wrote:
| It's probably because the aesthetic here is relatively bland,
| and sandals are an existing form-factor of shoe. Airpods are
| aggressively sleek and white, and they sit in a weird uncanny
| valley of accessory and tool. Technically, wired earbuds have
| the same hanging-stem, but everyone's used to them, so no one
| notices them.
|
| As to the aesthetics, I'm sure people thought the same of all
| types of bicycles. Penny-farthings used to be the cultural
| norm, and people still ride less-common forms like small-
| wheel and recumbent bicycles.
| laserlight wrote:
| Spoiler: You have to watch 30 seconds of history of humanity BS
| to see how the thing actually works.
| standardUser wrote:
| How fast is the "walking" speed with these? Is it significantly
| faster than just walking really fast?
| HN_is_for_gemes wrote:
| [dead]
| tomtheelder wrote:
| Says 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 wrote:
| I saw a 5 mile range listed elsewhere; not sure if that's at
| top-speed though.
| jollyllama wrote:
| I'm picturing people crashing into each other
| wiseleo wrote:
| It's not that bad. I crashed into other people regularly while
| playing roller soccer. It feels like a bump at slow speeds.
| dsalzman wrote:
| Motor Roller Skates - Early Personalized Transportation For Each
| Foot 1906
|
| https://theoldmotor.com/?p=139342
|
| People have always been in a hurry
| mikrl wrote:
| Couldn't resist the shitpost:
|
| _put on shoes_
|
| _start running_
|
| _crash and burn, shoes explode in a fireball_
|
| Shift Robotics QA team: _shocked pikachu_
| syx wrote:
| As 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?
| :)
| furyofantares wrote:
| It'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 wrote:
| Yeah, 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.
| rcarr wrote:
| If 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
| omginternets wrote:
| Call 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]
| gibolt wrote:
| The 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 wrote:
| Compared 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?
| toast0 wrote:
| Position of the weight on the body might make a difference to
| comfort. OTOH, so would cabling.
| wiseleo wrote:
| They are safer than scooters. Scooters are too vulnerable to road
| imperfections. A pebble can send you flying. They're on my
| wishlist now. :)
| defterGoose wrote:
| Unless 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.
| UncleOxidant wrote:
| Looks cool. But not $1400 cool.
| thelock85 wrote:
| At 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.
| ss48 wrote:
| Wired made a video of it here,
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4CHWulnDs that gave a good idea
| of what it's like using them.
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| Wow they make a huge amount of noise when moving, just that is
| a deal breaker for me to be honest.
| bwag wrote:
| I was wondering how they could traverse rough terrain like
| gravel. That video explains how the overlapping wheels makes
| that possible. Why not go with a "tank tread" type design?
| Maybe in a future hiking version.
| odysseus wrote:
| Good overview. $1400+tax though, wow. That "speed walker" he
| was racing against really looked like he was running ...
| notJim wrote:
| $1400 doesn't seem that bad for the very first product of
| this type compared to other e-mobility stuff. E-bikes can
| cost around that price point (and way more of course) and
| they're a mature category. Scooters are much cheaper of
| course, but again, this is the first product of this type.
| Spivak wrote:
| As long as both feet aren't in the air at the same time it's
| walking.
| gamegoblin wrote:
| The 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...
| bumby wrote:
| Speed walking looks like "I need to find a restroom,
| pronto" walking
| [deleted]
| 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
| Walter White has real opinions on people who lift their
| feet off the ground:
|
| https://youtu.be/JVBN7NAIrfg
| gcanyon wrote:
| I 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.
| colordrops wrote:
| I think it's technically walking as long as one foot is
| always on the ground.
| gcanyon wrote:
| There are other requirements: the lead knee has to be
| straight from the moment the foot touches the ground to
| when the knee passes under the body. (or something like
| that)
| [deleted]
| tootie wrote:
| Yeah it was impressive. The reviewer was comfortable very
| quickly and was able traverse real city streets without
| incident. It looks a really clever design.
| sirtimbly wrote:
| "Urban mobility" is such a rich vein for startups, it makes me
| think living in a city is pretty awful.
| moneywoes wrote:
| How does this effect gait or ergonomics
| modzu wrote:
| rollerskates seem better?
| d2049 wrote:
| Reminds me of Paul Graham's essay about why the Segway failed.
| http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html
|
| Same principle here. People don't look cool wearing strange robot
| sandal shoes.
| trekkie1024 wrote:
| Isn'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 wrote:
| This 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 wrote:
| That'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 wrote:
| I'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 wrote:
| > _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
| osrec wrote:
| But they still looked terrible. I still don't like how they
| look.
| LarryMullins wrote:
| Are they comfortable? Crocs (those plastic foam sandals) are
| notoriously unfashionable, but also incredibly popular because
| they're comfortable.
|
| Tbh they don't look very comfortable, I imagine they're heavy
| like roller skates, but who knows.
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| Crocs became popular recently but for a decade or so you
| would be made fun of by ANYONE if you wore them.
|
| It seems that the company survived long enough for them to
| become popular, but that's not the case with a lot of
| products (Google Glasses is an example I have in mind).
|
| Having a great product at the wrong time is having a bad
| product.
| LarryMullins wrote:
| > _Crocs became popular recently but for a decade or so you
| would be made fun of by ANYONE if you wore them._
|
| I believe they were selling like hotcakes that entire time.
| Popular but unfashionable, like cargo shorts.
| atdrummond wrote:
| Company almost went under for a time:
| https://socialfactor.com/blog/how-crocs-came-back-from-
| the-b...
| wyre wrote:
| Crocs became fashionable shortly after they released a
| $1200 collaboration with fashion house Balenciaga, but
| there is also high correlation with the popularity of crocs
| and the proliferation of chunky sneakers and silhouettes.
| Fashion is cyclical and Crocs were able to create an iconic
| and affordable product and lasted long enough for the
| fashion cycle to reach them.
|
| Interestingly, Balenciaga released a collaboration with
| Vibram Five-Fingers and to little surprise toe shoes are
| still unfashionable (although more acceptable now than when
| I wore a pair a decade ago I think).
| green-salt wrote:
| Was mildly interested until the price. They need to reel that in
| a bit if they want to appeal to more of an audience.
| mrguyorama wrote:
| It'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.
| r_singh wrote:
| Man, 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.
| [deleted]
| lm28469 wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| and pebbles, their most dangerous enemy
| skykooler wrote:
| This seems like a much better engineering solution then my
| current project, which is a pair of motorized Heelys.
| ur-whale wrote:
| https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shiftmoonwalkers/moonwa...
| scotty79 wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| My 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".
| eddsh1994 wrote:
| 7mph isn't exactly a 'high speed' and a 3 meter breaking
| distance is better than running
| lesuorac wrote:
| Do they make these without the motors?
|
| I honestly wouldn't mind some rollerskates I just strap onto a
| shoe.
| tristor wrote:
| This 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.
| petarb wrote:
| Reminds me of Wheelies when we were kids
| barathr wrote:
| Yeah, 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 wrote:
| Heelys 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)
| mhb wrote:
| Heelys perhaps?
| aidenn0 wrote:
| Did you mean Heelys[1]?
|
| 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heelys
| harshaw wrote:
| My 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.
| BadCookie wrote:
| Yeah, 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...
| alostpuppy wrote:
| That is a really good point. Hadn't considered that.
| LastTrain wrote:
| Is there a YC connection to these or is there a joke I'm missing
| or something?
| kornhole wrote:
| Looks 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.
| egypturnash wrote:
| Huh. 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 wrote:
| Their 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
| geeky4qwerty wrote:
| One 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 wrote:
| The 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.
| [deleted]
| ComputerGuru wrote:
| The 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.
| bmer wrote:
| How safe is this for knees, ankles, and hips?
| 988747 wrote:
| This thing would work equally well without any engine or
| batteries - it's called "roller-skates", and has been there for
| over a century.
| wiseleo wrote:
| I 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]
| asdff wrote:
| A skateboard works great too for moving faster around town, and
| is pretty fun to use as well.
| throwaway920102 wrote:
| The muscles you engage and the effort required in skating are
| entirely different.
| sanjayio wrote:
| Not to mention the level of skill required and time to
| achieve that skill.
| gghffguhvc wrote:
| I 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
| ActorNightly wrote:
| They also don't offer really any value.
|
| Compare this to a simple foldable electric scooter. It allows
| you get to places much faster, and has similar attributes in
| terms of things you do outside of commuting, is way cheaper and
| more reliable.
|
| For the hyper-optimization of walking in crowded places at a
| slightly elevated pace, you basically have to convince someone
| that spending x amount of money instead of leaving x minutes
| earlier is worth it, and that x has to be in the range of play
| money for an average person, because the latter is free.
|
| In general, if you are pushing a product that isn't relying on
| lifestyle marketing, or isn't radical new technology, the
| product needs to be an optimization on something existing, and
| when considering what it optimizes, you need to look at an
| entire picture, not just the particular item.
| killerpopiller wrote:
| there are plenty use cases where those shoes help, e.g. vast
| offices. In Germany, manual scooters are not allowed for
| safety reasons.
| plonq wrote:
| Scooters requires use of your hands. I can see potential for
| these for when you need to keep your hands free for
| activities.
| LarryMullins wrote:
| > _They also don 't offer really any value._
|
| Tell Amazon it will make their warehouse workers walk faster?
| Half joking.
| iLoveOncall wrote:
| And Amazon will tell you that they'd rather build a new
| robotic warehouse rather than buy millions of weird shoes
| that cost a grand a pop.
|
| Amazon also mandates anti-slip boots for warehouse workers
| (and paid for them), and this is literally the contrary of
| an anti-slip shoe.
| throwaway4aday wrote:
| I'm pretty sure people made the same argument about electric
| scooters when they first came out. People will buy these just
| for fun the same way they buy all the other silly modes of
| transport. Honestly I think these look way more fun than say
| rollerblades for example. I don't think everyone is going to
| use them but they will for sure have a market. No sense in
| being cranky about a cool product just because it doesn't
| suit your taste or wallet.
| [deleted]
| Karrot_Kream wrote:
| Scooters are hard to balance with. I love my e-scooter. My
| partner has a bad sense of balance and she's fallen off her
| e-scooter and hurt herself (nothing bad, just bruises and
| cuts) before. She prefers to ride the bike. According to the
| video anyway, this looks like it's a lot easier to balance
| with. Scooters are also heavy. Most men have enough upper
| body strength to lift scooters, but a lot of others don't. My
| partner has a hard time lifting up the e-scooter above
| certain heights.
| manmal wrote:
| I could easily enter public transport with these, that's not
| always the case with scooters where I live. Scooters are also
| quite heavy and can hit things while carrying them around. I
| don't consider scooters suitable for my commute, and they
| haven't really gotten the adoption from commuters they should
| have if they were that good.
| Karrot_Kream wrote:
| (Sorry for the tangent.)
|
| Are the spaces tight enough around you where the scooter is
| inconvenient? I didn't expect e-scooters to become as
| popular as they did where I live but they've taken the area
| by storm, and it seems especially strong among the crowd
| that still commutes.
| manmal wrote:
| Yes I think spaces are just too tight, people would
| constantly bump each other. Or often there's just not
| enough space to stow a scooter.
| bfeynman wrote:
| I 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 .
| gghffguhvc wrote:
| Wired journalist using them on potholed roads.
| https://youtu.be/qe4CHWulnDs?t=223
|
| He was impressed with how well they work on bad surfaces.
| avereveard wrote:
| love all the cuts on that section of the video, absolutely
| nothing fishy happening in between.
| okasaki wrote:
| Seems like typical youtube editing...
| gghffguhvc wrote:
| On second viewing I agree that is pretty dodgy.
| spiderice wrote:
| Yeah the cut right at 3:58 when he is about to step in to
| the pothole is pretty suspect. It shows immediately
| before and immediately after. Can't think of a reason
| they would cut it that way unless they're intentionally
| trying not to show it.
| bfeynman wrote:
| also listening to how rickety it is, probably not so great
| for your knees.
| fasthands9 wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| We used beach cruiser bicycles at the shipyard. Worked
| great, no app or electronics required!
| a4isms wrote:
| Way 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.
| trynewideas wrote:
| 2023 headline: "Amazon warehouse union files complaint
| after mandatory not-skates collision breaks picker's leg,
| causes concussion"
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| > _warehouse settings_
|
| Conference and trade shows.
| gibolt wrote:
| Batteries and efficient, small electric motors are enabling so
| many unique form factors.
|
| Objects like this fill lots of niches, and should be exciting
| even if you aren't the target demographic.
|
| Clever transmissions like this could work in lots of use cases
| that weren't previously possible.
| [deleted]
| kekkidy wrote:
| [dead]
| wnolens wrote:
| It's just _so much_ engineering for such marginal benefit over
| alternatives. I can contrive a use-case where this is better,
| but I have to contrive it.
| christkv wrote:
| A log European cities have banned scooters from the sidewalk.
| This would not have that limit and would mean less risk than
| riding with the cars on a scooter.
| wnolens wrote:
| This would have whatever limit that rollerblades/skates
| would have.
| mcguire wrote:
| Those same cities will start banning these when people
| wearing them start running into pedestrians.
| JustSomeNobody wrote:
| > - I can think of lots of jobs that employers would love their
| staff to move faster.
|
| I hear they're just going to use riding crops instead.
| JustSomeNobody wrote:
| So... 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 wrote:
| Shift robotics. I'm sure these will soon be known as shit shoes.
| Fricken wrote:
| With an electric skateboard you don't have to swap out your shoes
| when it's time to use it.
| oxfeed65261 wrote:
| These strap on to your shoes, they don't replace shoes.
| beders wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| Their 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.
| dwheeler wrote:
| This 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 wrote:
| Traditional 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 wrote:
| The difference is these have zero learning curve, which is
| important for rich, lazy people.
| ortusdux wrote:
| Reminds me of the skateboards in Snow Crash.
| Fricken wrote:
| With 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.
| BugsJustFindMe wrote:
| Could you do this without any weird complexity, sensor
| electronics, or recharging batteries with a set of lockable
| freewheels?
| gnramires wrote:
| Good 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)
| pnf wrote:
| Faster? Hard pass. Guaranteed to make you slightly taller? How do
| I invest?
| stainablesteel wrote:
| Perfect 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 wrote:
| Absolutely. 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]
| wyre wrote:
| What'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 wrote:
| In 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.
| trynewideas wrote:
| This 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]
| mise_en_place wrote:
| 2023's Juicero
| BLO716 wrote:
| I'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 wrote:
| > 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.
| jojobas wrote:
| Looks 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)?
| mberning wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| Battery 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 wrote:
| > _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.
| mikotodomo wrote:
| Neat, 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 wrote:
| As a childhood owner of Moon Shoes, this product excites me
| greatly.
| p0pcult wrote:
| I 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.
| anigbrowl wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| I'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.
| dwringer wrote:
| Huh, 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.
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| Good 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!
| asdff wrote:
| You can feel the pavement fine with a skateboard at least
| alexfromapex wrote:
| I bet you'd walk pretty fast in these down steep hills
| samwillis wrote:
| Anyone else getting massive "Fisher Price Roller Skates" vibes
| from this?
| https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fisher+price+vintage+rolle...
| [deleted]
| tejohnso wrote:
| I could see these for some niche markets similar to Segway.
| Personally, when I want to walk faster I jog.
| emmelaich wrote:
| Some 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
| hbn wrote:
| That'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 wrote:
| I came here to post about this. Suddenly you're paying more
| attention to water that will ruin your 1400usd skates.
| elil17 wrote:
| These 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 wrote:
| Why 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 wrote:
| > 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).
| SnooSux wrote:
| > 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..
| michpoch wrote:
| Just get a single shoe and save half the price!
| SnooSux wrote:
| Wanna split it? I'll take the left shoe, you take the right?
| alistairSH wrote:
| A 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?
| aidenn0 wrote:
| According to Wired it's 7MPH max speed.
| t-writescode wrote:
| nit: 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.
| whyenot wrote:
| Cool! 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.
| xori wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| At 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 wrote:
| Supposedly 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 wrote:
| I 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.
| LeifCarrotson wrote:
| It has a 3.0 Ah battery (not Wh, assume one 18650 lipo cell ->
| 11 Wh), comparable with a smartphone or flashlight. At a full
| 300W discharge, you're emptying the batteries in just over 2
| minutes. You'd better have well-insulated soles before stepping
| on a pair of 150W space heaters, also, no 18650s are rated for
| 100C discharge, 20C is a lot and 5C is more common for the
| high-capacity low-discharge 3.0 Ah cells.
|
| You get 5 mile range by using them like roller skates, using
| your own legs to power them. The motors are just to aid in
| walking up stairs and such.
| silisili wrote:
| My 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.
| burkaman wrote:
| Yeah and for $1400, wouldn't it make more sense to just get
| an electric scooter or bike?
| nashashmi wrote:
| Obviously 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.
| giardia wrote:
| [flagged]
| renewiltord wrote:
| Damn, 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 wrote:
| The max speed for one of these is 7 mph, which is likely slower
| than you on a bicycle.
| renewiltord wrote:
| Right, 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.
| wiseleo wrote:
| Well, I might as well start prototyping tracked shoes. My version
| would have a wearable battery park with a quick disconnect.
| pleb_nz wrote:
| Nice. Personally, I want shoes that make walking harder so I burn
| more calories and get fitter as I walk.
| rx_tx wrote:
| > 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.
| vorpalhex wrote:
| I 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 wrote:
| > 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
| nomel wrote:
| "Walk like a pro in 10 steps" had me laughing.
| avelis wrote:
| I guess I've been walking amateur this entire time.
| handedness wrote:
| Real walkers don't do it for the money.
| p0pcult wrote:
| Doesn't "military-grade" imply the lowest-possible cost to get
| the job done? I.e., the exact opposite of the marketing PR it
| is servicing?
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| JustSomeNobody wrote:
| They also get their parts from the same place Tesla does!
| metadat wrote:
| So, China? Or did you mean the batteries are sourced from a
| Gigafactory?
| JustSomeNobody wrote:
| I was being snarky. They named dropped JPL and Tesla in
| their video.
| michpoch wrote:
| Nah, they also used the same libraries from GitHub, it
| counts.
| metadat wrote:
| How 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-notic...
| sanjayio wrote:
| It'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 wrote:
| You 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 wrote:
| There 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 wrote:
| Maybe they will sense the terrain and just turn off the motor.
| gcanyon wrote:
| Over 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]
| JasonBorne wrote:
| $1399. So it's just for hyper wealthy people
| w0s wrote:
| It'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.
| googlryas wrote:
| Funny, I had this exact idea probably 15 years ago, but I thought
| to myself after 5 minutes " no, that's stupid"
| squokko wrote:
| Having 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.
| aerodog wrote:
| Airports
| Graziano_M wrote:
| Until you have to board the plane and carry and extra couple
| dozen pounds for the rest of your trip.
| standardly wrote:
| It says they are 4lbs
| jcutrell wrote:
| But the extra dozen come from the lower calorie expenditure
| from not walking as much. /s
| standeven wrote:
| Rent them out anywhere there's a lot of walking - airports,
| walking tours, theme parks, malls (if they still exist).
| Graziano_M wrote:
| No way their insurers would allow that
| dwighttk wrote:
| Make fists with your toes
| xnzakg wrote:
| Would definitely be useful for airport employees who already
| often use kick scooters
| yamtaddle wrote:
| That's what the walkway-conveyor-belt things are for.
| dylanjcastillo wrote:
| Cool idea but seems like the kind of product bound to have the
| same fate as Google glasses or Segway.
| joegahona wrote:
| > 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 wrote:
| [dead]
| wiseleo wrote:
| It 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.
| hcrisp wrote:
| In 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.
| ynab4 wrote:
| Hahahahaha this can't be real
| jchw wrote:
| Let 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.
| Wojtkie wrote:
| There's nothing on their website saying there's an app or you
| need to pair it with a phone. It seems to be all contained
| within the housing.
| mhuffman wrote:
| Mom! I need $50 my rollerskate shoes subscription expired! Now
| I can't walk anywhere fast!
| liendolucas wrote:
| That's the future of SaaS (Shoes as a Service).
| bilsbie wrote:
| Remember the days we used to get excited about new technology?
| freeone3000 wrote:
| Back when it made my life better instead of worse.
| yokoprime wrote:
| This looks very much like roller skates with a ratchet in the
| back wheels. Not sure it's new as such
| throwaway4aday wrote:
| Please 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.
| mmaunder wrote:
| It'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.
| xwkd wrote:
| Is this speculation? The way that this and the parent comment
| read, it sounds like you have information that I'm not
| finding on the website.
| renewiltord wrote:
| They'll start collecting DNA samples of you from your feet
| and then create a clone. They'll lure you away on a
| fraudulent whiteboard coding interview assignment and then
| insert the clone into your family. When you return, the
| clone will have you arrested for impersonation and you will
| spend the rest of your life in Guantanamo while the clone
| lives your life. At a crucial moment, they will speak a
| trigger word that will cause the clone to kill the
| President, who they will then replace with a clone
| President, who will then use his now vast power to remove
| max-speed regulations on these devices, allowing them to go
| up to 10 mph.
|
| It's terrifying.
| vagabund wrote:
| This sort of "late-stage capitalism" cynicism used to be
| concentrated on reddit but is everywhere now. These shoes
| are extremely technically impressive, highly novel, and
| very useful, and yet they're still met with a combative
| dismissiveness even on a site ostensibly dedicated to such
| things. Sign of the zeitgeist.
| culi wrote:
| I think it's a helpful cynicism. Remember when everyone
| rushed to 23andMe and those other DNA testing services
| and only later did we realize this is a new frontier of
| selling people's data?
|
| I wanna know they're not gonna sell my strut
| [deleted]
| tkinom wrote:
| Another idea for them: Walkatron for NFTs token for "....."
| causes....
| jstummbillig wrote:
| Hey, we are all just getting older and grumpier by the
| second
| porphyra wrote:
| Imagine if you spent a ton of time and effort to launch a
| product and people on Hacker News start attacking it
| brutally based on things that aren't even true.
| gitfan86 wrote:
| At this point I wouldn't be surprised if it is a viral
| marketing strategy.
| jchw wrote:
| What a sad sob story. It's so unfortunate for founders
| that they have to deal with such things as skepticism and
| preconceived notions.
|
| How about this: if you care about my demographic of
| people, I'm happy to be appeased to in the form of
| commitments to have offline-only functionality for the
| hardware I'm paying for. But if you advertise the 1
| millionth tech product and expect me to not assume it is
| like the 999,999 previous ones out of good faith alone,
| sorry, I'm fresh out of miniature violins.
|
| I don't really want to be this flippant, but do you know
| how burned I am by this at this point? I've started
| returning things based on not being able to use them
| without an account. Just scroll through Google Home
| integrations some time and take a look at the vast
| mountains of internet of shit devices. Sometimes, it's
| proudly advertised that it needs a smartphone. Other
| times, you'd be hard pressed to know it even supports it,
| less requires it. Tooth brushes, bathroom scales,
| literally anything a Bluetooth radio will fit in.
|
| If you want to be mad at anyone, don't get mad at me. Get
| mad at Juicero and all of the other folks dropping turds
| in the proverbial punchbowl. I am not sorry.
| twblalock wrote:
| It's also unfortunate for the HN community that a bitter,
| reflexive dismissal with no basis in evidence that
| pertains to this actual product is the top comment on
| this story.
| jchw wrote:
| So what's the alternative? Just accept it without
| complaining ever and hope that it gets better, while
| people leach free advertising for their fresh internet of
| shit garbage to a hacker community? Why?
|
| If it said something about having open source firmware
| you could flash yourself, the entire premise would be
| different. Without something like that, this is basically
| just free advertising.
|
| I agree that it is unfortunate that I need to be bitter
| about this. Totally. Not our faults though, and again, I
| provide an out: give me a reason to believe this is
| different.
|
| Of course it is natural for hacker types to be skeptical
| and cynical but I swear to God, I just want an inch of
| confidence. As it stands now I would bet you substantial
| amounts of money they are planning on putting a Bluetooth
| radio in the shoe.
| twblalock wrote:
| > So what's the alternative? Just accept it without
| complaining ever and hope that it gets better, while
| people leach free advertising for their fresh internet of
| shit garbage to a hacker community?
|
| Again, how do you know this product is one of those
| "internet of shit" ones?
| MattDemers wrote:
| This seems ripe for replaceable bearings or some kind of
| maintenance thing.
| asdff wrote:
| Maybe the maintenance will amount to you mailing it to them
| to throw away and them mailing you a brand new product
| FatActor wrote:
| > You'll be offered personalized coaching.
|
| Thank you for reading this so that I don't have to. Coaching
| for walking is an Onion article I swear.
| [deleted]
| nimbius wrote:
| its been my experience that aliexpress usually offers a similar
| product with about 90% of the functionality and often times
| more features, with no rent-seeking required.
|
| so ill wait for my mega-walker pro's to come out instead i
| guess.
| idiotsecant wrote:
| The exciting part is that 82% of the mega-walker pro's will
| work great and the rest of them well self-immolate and burn
| down your garage randomly. Life is an adventure!
| alexb_ wrote:
| How long until we see this on warehouse floors?
| jamestimmins wrote:
| This 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 wrote:
| It 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.
| moogleii wrote:
| The 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 wrote:
| At least they'll probably be on the first step. ...if they're
| going up.
| siva7 wrote:
| Now i'd like shoes where i can walk underwater :)
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