Austin-based Shift Robotics will unveil a new version of their popular robotic shoes at CES next week. Each Moonwalker X shoe is a pound lighter and has upgraded control systems. The new sneakers will come in lower sizes.
When they were introduced on Kickstarter in October 2022, the initial Moonwalkers made waves online. Videos showing people gliding across sidewalks raised $329,000.
I wrote about them in May after trying them at the Automate convention in Detroit. I noted two system flaws, as did many others. They started at four pounds per shoe. Second, there’s a learning curve, which I realized immediately on a busy exhibition floor. 
With next week’s shoe releases, the business appears to have addressed both difficulties. Shoes will be sold shortly, although the time and pricing are unknown. The $1,400 originals were unaffordable. Of course, R&D drives first-generation hardware pricing. Small production runs were likely involved since pricing per unit drops as you scale.
High-tech roller skates at an industrial event like Automate last year astonished me, but Shift has found a huge logistics and warehouse market.
“In developing X, our focus was clear: enhancing productivity without compromising safety,” explains founder and CEO Xunjie Zhang. “We’ve tuned Moonwalkers X to meet warehouse rigors with an unwavering commitment to worker safety by collaborating closely with our 3PL partners.”
Focusing on business efficiency makes sense since the price will likely stay exorbitant for many consumers. Companies would gladly pay for technologies they feel will save them.
Our CES hands-on coverage continues next week.
