It may sound like a joke but that’s the reality. Acton, with the help of the art departments of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Judge Dredd, has come up with skates that are offering to motorize your feet.
RocketSkates, as they are called are the recent Kickstarter success story; they look like a glimpse of the future and at the same time like a very expensive prank.
The idea is very sensible but to some people it is so weird that they feel embarrassed using the RocketSkates in public.
Some may wonder whether they work. But a demonstration video shows that they do. You can use the RocketSkates to traverse the city at a fairly good speed.
RocketSkates derives power from lithium-ion battery packs coming in three configurations with varying limits of usage: Deep Space Black which lasts for 90 minutes, Terminator Chrome lasting for 70 minutes and Rocket Red that lasts for 45 minutes. In terms of distance the packs cover 10, 8 and 6 miles respectively.
Each skate has two hub motors and an on-board microprocessor. This is to help them synchronize with each other so they can maintain the same speed. And surprisingly enough, no remote control is needed.
To speed it up, the user only needs to tilt their feet forward and to slow down they just tilt their heels back.
The user can also monitor the state of the RocketSkates and track their routes using an accompanying app for Android and iOS.
The exact price of the RocketSkates is still not clear even from the company’s website or on its campaign page, but it is estimated that they may retail at $500 a pair.
Acton sort only $50,000 through their Kickstarter campaign to produce the product, but so far they have raised over $455,000 showing how much the public is interested in this project.
