CES 2024: Shift Robotics Moonwalkers Help You Walk Smarter and Faster
retail price: $1,399.00
This year at CES 2024, Shift Robotics allowed attendees to personally demonstrate its Moonwalker shoes. Powered by ShiftOS, the company’s AI software, the Moonwalkers are designed for people to travel at running speeds simply by walking at a normal pace. Let’s take a closer look.
A new take on walking
How do the Moonwalkers help make walking more efficient? This is all thanks to the electric motors mounted in the shoes that propel the user when their legs are in a certain position when walking. I had the opportunity to try out the Moonwalkers at CES and putting them on was an easy process. Simply place your foot in each shoe and tighten the two straps. What makes this process even more convenient is that your actual shoes can stay on. This is beneficial for warehouse workers or employees using them in a distribution center environment.
how do you walk?
After initially putting them on, I’ll admit it felt awkward. This is to be expected given that each shoe weighs about five pounds. The representative that assisted me had me start slowly by walking normally. At first, they feel like bricks attached to your feet. To activate the electric propulsion, simply lift your heel while your toes are on the ground and twist your leg in. This motion activates a green light on the side of the shoe to engage with the electric assist. While walking normally, I could physically feel the electric motors engage and disengage. The shoes use AI to know when to activate and adjust variable speeds based on the sensors inside the shoe. The speed of the electric motors is essentially controlled by the user’s own pace and allows them to have full control of motion all without a remote control.
At certain times, I stumbled a little but never did I feel as though I would trip and fall. The Moonwalkers are able to sense when you might take a tumble and are able to actively turn off the electric assist. Once I gathered more courage and felt confident, the representative encouraged me to take longer strides. Sure enough, there was even more electric assist and it was propelling me further than I’d usually take in a single stride. Shift Robotics claims you can travel up to 7 miles per hour and up to around 6.5 miles while simply “walking”.
is this the future of walking technology?
Many people tend to think the Moonwalkers are roller blades and that’s a common misconception that makes some sense, given the design language. They’re actually not related at all. The electric assist is only active once you take a step forward. The opposite stationary foot always has electric assist off. And while I had a ton of fun walking in these for the demo, the purpose of the Moonwalkers is actually to facilitate movement in an environment where you need to get somewhere fast without taking other means of transportation (i.e in an urban environment). They can also be used in warehouses or large spaces where employees frequently or quickly have to move from one end of a building to another. Shift Robotics says the shoes can work on wet surfaces and is designed for rugged environments, including hard pavements and thick carpets. They come in one size, but accommodate U.S. Men’s sizes 9 to 12 and U.S. Women’s sizes 10.5 to 13.5. The shoes are powered by a 3.0AH battery and take about 90 minutes to charge via USB-C.
Images provided by Shift Robotics
Ben
The complex integration of buildings and automobiles always intrigued Ben. So much so that he dedicated his life to further his knowledge of technological development in building design. Whether he’s on a job site with new homes or in a studio designing a home, Ben understands the smarts required inside a home.