Imagine if you could step into a pair of shoes, grab a tiny remote, and then your shoes would start rolling, taking you to wherever you want to go. Well, imagine no more, a new company called spnKiX has been created by a guy named Peter Treadway. He’s both an industrial design engineer and a fashion expert of sorts, and he’s created the new shoes that go by the same name as the company. In short, they seem to be a truly elegant solution to a simple problem, and that is tiring after walking around all day.
Each shoe, which Gizmag, notes, look more like boots, has two wheels on it. To put them on, the user simply steps into them, like clogs, then applies the straps, like skates. Then, to get moving, the user/driver/rider manipulates a very tiny remote (which can be strapped to the hand) with just enough buttons on it to make the shoes go. Also, circuitry built into the shoes allows them to talk to one another so that one doesn’t constantly get ahead or behind the other, forcing the user to adjust all the time. Users wearing the shoes can go up to ten miles per hour which is like walking at a fast clip. Each shoe has its own battery and motor and they last for long enough to take a rider about three miles. After that, they take just a couple of hours to recharge again.
Techcrunch says riders wearing the motorized shoes look similar to those riding a segway, minus the hardware that users hold onto for balance. Which brings up another point, and that is, the shoes also come with training wheels, because just like regular skates, it takes some time to learn how to ride with the spnKiX shoes.
The whole point of the spnKiX shoes is to allow people the option of getting to and from places with a minimal amount of environmental footprint. Such shoes would be perfect for students walking around campus, or for commuters who have to walk to a metro stop. Instead of calling a cab, people could strap on the shoes and get moving. Then, when they arrive, all they need to do is plug them in to recharge while they go about their normal business. It doesn’t sound like any more effort than putting on snow boots in the winter.
Its advances like these that might just help us all move from gas guzzling vehicles to more futuristic modes of transportation.