Image Credits:<\/strong> Shift Robotics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shift was founded in 2018 by Xunjie Zhang, who went back to study mechatronics at CMU after four years at Rolls-Royce. \u201cHe was trying to get to work and was frequently late,\u201d says Pleta. \u201cHe thought, \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll buy a scooter, so I don\u2019t have to look for parking spots. And then, I\u2019m going to get hit by a car. I need to use the sidewalk. Walking is too slow. How can we make it faster?\u2019 That is the genesis of the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

After years of development on what would become the Moonwalkers, the company launched a Kickstarter last October. With no marketing team to speak of, Shift still managed to have a viral hit on its hands, reaching its $95,000 goal in under two days. Things slowed a bit from there, but the company managed to wrangle up $329,000 by the end of the campaign.<\/p>\n

In addition to the built-in PR, the crowdfunding campaign allowed Shift the ability to determine that there was, indeed, some market for $1,400 semi-skating footwear. As the company expands and scales, it will be able to gradually bring that price down. Pleta says the Moonwalkers have shipped to all backers, and now Shift is fulfilling post-Kickstarter purchases. With crowdfunding out of the way, the company plans to raise a Series A this year.<\/p>\n

I followed Pleta\u2019s lead and took the Moonwalkers for a spin on the floor. The shoes have ten wheels total. There are four motorized two-wheel clusters and a pair of nonmotorized wheels up front. The thinking behind the latter is that the ball of the foot is used to activate the wheels\u2019 movement \u2014 similar to roller skates\/blades \u2014 so motorizing them could present a potential hazard. The wheels themselves are made of polyurethane.<\/p>\n