After settling down from the surprise of this headline, assuming that they’re remaining faithful to the idea of walking – where both feet remain in contact with the ground; see running, where they don’t – then perhaps this product is best understood as motorized skates that reuse the same interface as walking.
As in, the foot’s heel-then-toe contact speed is proportional to forward speed, and sudden flattening of the foot with high toe pressure means an emergency stop.
It’s clever and I’d like to see how this goes, although it might be ineffective on stairs – few micromobility devices ever are – and might require fairly smooth surfaces due to the small wheels.
EDIT: oh dear, the actual product implementation seems pretty poor, after watching a YouTube video of them in action. Noise, weight, and an apparent lack of substantial speed increase. Maybe not quite prime time yet.
I’ve also never used them, but fondly recall the sight of fellow middle school students dashing down a hall. It looks like the Heelys website sells them, but it may be difficult to find the shoes in a brick-and-mortar shoe store, if those stores even exist still.
After settling down from the surprise of this headline, assuming that they’re remaining faithful to the idea of walking – where both feet remain in contact with the ground; see running, where they don’t – then perhaps this product is best understood as motorized skates that reuse the same interface as walking.
As in, the foot’s heel-then-toe contact speed is proportional to forward speed, and sudden flattening of the foot with high toe pressure means an emergency stop.
It’s clever and I’d like to see how this goes, although it might be ineffective on stairs – few micromobility devices ever are – and might require fairly smooth surfaces due to the small wheels.
EDIT: oh dear, the actual product implementation seems pretty poor, after watching a YouTube video of them in action. Noise, weight, and an apparent lack of substantial speed increase. Maybe not quite prime time yet.
Yeah, kinda seems like you’d be better off with roller skates, roller blade, or even heelies
So many Heelies could be had for the same money as this product, and still trounce it in the downhills haha
I’ve never used Heelies before, but was fascinated as a kid. Where would one try Heelies or buy them nowadays?
I’ve also never used them, but fondly recall the sight of fellow middle school students dashing down a hall. It looks like the Heelys website sells them, but it may be difficult to find the shoes in a brick-and-mortar shoe store, if those stores even exist still.