Are The Moonwalker Electric Shoes a Good Idea?

[@petebyrdie4799]

Ive always had a fast walking speed and found it incredibly tiring to walk at the pace of other people.

[@themonkeyman2547]

My knees start feeling funny if I walk too slow

[@notcorrect]

People always complain that I walk too fast. If I try to walk at their pace I feel sluggish, awkward and its exhausting. They always think I'm exaggerating..

[@petebyrdie4799]

@themonkeyman2547 My hip joints ache. I've slowed down a bit because of parkinsons but I still walk faster than most, and find myself thinking, 'How do you people ever get anywhere?'

[@petebyrdie4799]

@notcorrect Exactly! I'm pleased The Action Lab supports my claim that walking more slowly than your natural pace is difficult.

[@prumchhangsreng979]

Im a fast walker as well but i feel like u are being over dramatic about it. I just found the movement of slow walking to be awkward, that’s all Edited: oh i see u have Parkinson as well. I just thought u were the average fast walker.

[@jmunt]

There’s actually a big trend in the hiking community for lighter shoes; it’s commonly shared that each pound on your feet uses the same energy as 3 pounds carried. So 10lb of moonwalkers burns the energy of carrying 30lb. I’d rather just walk faster lol

[@austinpullan8725]

With nothing else changing, it seems like the most efficient way to do it if nothing else changes, is to strap the battery and control portion to a waist strap so it isn’t on your feet.

[@threestans9096]

ive never heard this, ive been hiking since i was 7. people cut their toothbrush in half to save grams in their pack, but never have I heard such a relationship from foot to pack. How many people are using shoes that weigh that much? Plus the equation itself doesnt pan out in my eyes. you saying me walking around with one pound shoes is the same as a backpack of 30lbs? So if i take my shoes off and carry a 30lb backpack it will feel like im walking with shoes on? Not even over 30miles a day, i dont see that making sense. Ive worn 5lb weights around the house and they dint feel like 150lbs. And yes I understand its cumulative calories burned.

[@ugh55]

@@threestans9096 What is easier, walking around with 20lb backpack or walking around with two 10 lb weights in your hands. You are constantly moving/lifting your hands/feet whereas the backpack stays in place. It takes more energy to lift something over and over than it is to lift it once.

[@jmunt]

@@threestans9096 you misread my comment. I said 3:1 not 30:1. I equated 10lb moonwalkers to 30lb on the back. Lookup ultralight hiking shoes, they are gaining popularity for this reason, they are often 1-2lb lighter than traditional hiking boots

[@jmunt]

@@threestans9096 I also said “trend”. You said you were hiking since you were 7. That explains why you haven’t heard it, this is a new “trend”, not old conventional wisdom that anyone was doing when you were 7. I only know about it because I very recently became interested in hiking and did a lot of research about it, and everywhere I looked I saw articles talking about how inefficient traditional hiking boots are and how important lighter trail shoes are (weather permitting).

[@duarteconchinhas]

As exercise scientist, I would say that more important than the total energy is the specific strain applied to certain muscles such as the hip flexors to elevate the foot! Depending on the person and the gait pattern, these shoes can be really cool or really strenuous

[@HowDareYouu]

exercise scientist?? u mean trainer where do you guys come with all these job names. ''Architect of science of exercising user experience of movement physics''

[@captainkirk7676]

​@HowDareYouu cooks now call themselves food scientist. Is the growing trend to add scientist or engineer to everything.

[@ccelik97]

@@HowDareYouu Maybe like: _"Rindfleischetiketterungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesets"_ *("beef law")* ? !\s

[@TheSpongiform]

What are the qualifications of an exercise scientist?

[@matthewjefferys1855]

​@@HowDareYouu A personal trainer does a course for a fortnight, an exercise scientist studies a Bachelor and/or Masters/PhD. Ask any adult about it, it's a common thing to study.

[@MiDnYTe25]

Please don't advertise BetterHelp who sell your data to advertisers and let anyone in their "professional" roster without verification

[@JunkieRemix]

Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of bad stories of the so called “therapists” not even doing what they’re supposed to do and sometimes even giving up. One person had to go through like 5 or 6 different people to find a decent therapist that actually helped

[@CrakenFlux]

@@JunkieRemix hard truth is that therapists are like anyone else, and it takes a very unusual person to master the complexities of the work, most don t.

[@Sentryshot]

@@CrakenFlux Bro what? Either *you* are a very unusual person, or you have never gone to therapy.

[@maxwins112]

fr

[@acrazydurian]

@@CrakenFlux and the training and what not to become a therapist helps the "master the complexities of the work" part. its like saying programming is hard because it takes a very abnormal human to think in computer terms, yet there are programmers everywhere thanks to education.

[@princescott7188]

Have you ever tried an upward incline using the moonwalk electric shoes?

[@ehrichweiss]

I was thinking about that as well. I was thinking that downhill could just be a roller-skate mode or even regenerative braking mode but uphill is a different game entirely.

[@brendanberry7403]

Almost sounded like they had a ratcheting system for just that so they wouldn’t roll backwards. How well they grip is another story.

[@unvergebeneid]

E-bikes are a godsend especially on inclines. So depending on how these are implemented, that might actually be their killer feature idk.

[@PrivateSi]

Or a downward incline with those kid's shoes with the wheel built in. Simples.

[@paranoidandroid7459]

Or tried to get back up after falling

[@CrazedKen]

3:27 nooo they’re horrible, please look at the sponsor’s history, they sold data even when claiming they wouldn’t and their therapists weren’t licensed

[@madeintexas3d442]

The moonwalkers are solving a problem that nobody has and they make you look ridiculous doing it. I think this is the final nail in the coffin for them.

[@AmnesiacSai]

they're noisy too and you have to charge your fucking shoes I'd rather just roller blade

[@lasskinn474]

@@AmnesiacSai yeah detachable blade rollerblades are so much better than this.

[@YounesLayachi]

Walking is a solved nonproblem for humans by definition, and certainly it's not a tech gadget that will make it any better. Special shoes or walking sticks maybe, but not this thing ! Bouncy shoes mostly compensate for the rock hard surfaces we've created everywhere we go. Also, it seems some people will do ANYTHING just to not have to walk. After cars and the abomination of those horizontal two wheel "hover" things , now electric wheeled shoes. They avoid walking as if it's a bad thing.

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

​@@lasskinn474they would probably make more money with a detachable roller blade that has hooks/holster on the side of the shoe for the wheels

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

Silicon Valley in a nutshell

[@Umlee-Kerymansrivarrwael]

As someone who tends to walk really fast, I would love to have these. The idea of outpacing someone else that's running while just walking is hilarious to me.

[@Supremax67]

OR, you need to use the washroom real bad!

[@stevethorpe]

When I was still hiking, sometimes multi-day hikes (longest one was eight days crossing the Sierra Nevada) we put a lot of thought into optimizing the gear we had to carry with us. One of the best lessons I learned was that for every lb of weight of your boots you would do as much work as carrying 5lb in your backpack. I never questioned the accuracy of the numbers, or why it should work out like that, but seeing this video, and the bio-mechanics explanation, it became obvious: the weight in your backpack hardly goes up and down at all when you are walking. I guess that is just a long-winded way of saying: how much could you increase the efficiency of these moonwalkers by putting the battery and the control electronics in a pack that could be carried in a hip pack leaving only wheels, motors and some sensors to be carried on the feet?

[@robertparkinson2102]

The weight in your pack should also be as high as possible as your hips accelerate slightly more (forward and back & up and down) with each step than your head.

[@stevethorpe]

​​@@robertparkinson2102True. I wrote "hip pack" as it just seemed more convenient considering it would have to be connected by wires to the shoes, and would still give a large bio-mechanical advantage. Not sure why I'm still following up on this though, as I'm firmly in the "This is a goofy idea that will never catch on." camp 😄

[@richardcates8605]

Barefoot hiking ( or aqua shoes at most) for the win

[@AskiFin]

Don't use Better Help. They are battling multiple lawsuits because they share what you say to the therapist to outsiders, such as marketing for ads.

[@mike1024.]

It sounds like the most efficient way to use these things would be to speed walk with them. You'd probably use less energy than running but achieve that speed!

[@YounesLayachi]

Roller blades are effective because there's less need to lift the foot , they are pretty light and they greatly increase the distance of each "step" plus enable more aggressive pushing instead of mostly falling forwards. Although I haven't tried wearing them or ice skating blades for longer than a couple hours, aside from the funny missing foot feeling it doesn't seem to fatigue the legs much.

[@Amor_fati.Memento_Mori]

But can't you just bring a booster board?

[@_Just_Another_Guy]

​@@YounesLayachi Stairs.

[@pinbi7]

@@_Just_Another_Guy i used to in-line skate , stairs are a non issue

[@MsTatakai]

The only problem i see with In-line skates which i like a lot to use, is entering in a buildinng with them ON... if not all buidings don't let you go in with them ON and usually you shouldn't to not get into problems... and with these moonwalker they can't say "hey you can't walk in here!" like the other roller shoes which were pretty cool back in the day... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ just saying tho

[@FischiPiSti]

I'm excited for these kinds of shoes not because of everyday walking, but a solution to locomotion in VR. The idea is that the shoes bring you back to the center of the playspace while walking forward like a "reverse treadmill"

[@itsd0nk]

Sounds like a great way to add even more motion sickness to the situation.

[@reverendtoast4173]

@@itsd0nk sounds like a problem for people getting motion sick, sucks to be them

[@UsDiYoNa]

@@itsd0nksounds like a great way to inevitably end up on your face or head butting the wall when the power goes out, or the battery dies, or the connection glitches, etc.

[@spookykitty2327]

@@UsDiYoNa I'd love to be able to trip in VR. So immersive

[@lancetschirhart7676]

There’s rarely motion sickness in vr. This is a criticism from like ten years ago before the refresh rate was increased. Give it a try, you’ll see what I mean. @@itsd0nk

[@trucid2]

It's not just the energy needed to lift them, but the added inertial to your legs that makes it harder to accelerate them and to slow them down as you move them forward and back. Additionally, you used five pound ankle weights as reference, but these moonwalkers sit under your foot, creating a larger moment of inertia. That makes the moonwalkers expend more energy than the five pound ankle weights.

[@tatianaes3354]

I guess THE TRUE purpose of those shoes is for you to burn your calories faster while also walking faster. So it is a physical exercise for fitness. Not bad, because otherwise Americans will become even fatter.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

But biomechanics makes this far more complicated than it seems. Walking is far more efficient than simple physics calculations suggest. You don't have to use much energy to swing your foot forward because your leg acts as a pendulum and swings forward naturally. You also don't use that much energy to lift your feet because you can lift them by shifting your weight to the other foot.

[@ChadDidNothingWrong]

hills make the difference ill bet.....especially the grueling downhills. those get me twice as fast as uphills.....all that strain on your hamstrings every single step

[@Parkashdavi-l9q]

didn't he calculate the added inertia? he did that using 1/2 mv^2 formulae

[@AbdelBaligh]

Fun video, but there's a big mistake with the way you're doing the graph analysis. When you increase the speed, you move the point to the left as a result, but you leave the vertical component without a change, this is wrong because if the total calorie expenditure is the same, and the speed increases, joules/meter would decrease. If you wanted to just move it horizontally, then the correct graph to do that on would be the joules/Min vs meters/Min. If the Y axis has joules/Meter, then increasing your speed has to decrease the joules/Meter. This makes the moonwalkers way more efficient than what this analysis shows.

[@jibcot8541]

Why can't they just work as electric rollerskates ?

[@randomcharacter6501]

Over designed

[@DrewsReviews07]

Right like you only should have to step to get over an obstacle

[@conor7154]

Probably way less efficient

[@kalaasmna9116]

Because they dont want to create something that already existed

[@dareokoski8158]

​@conor7154 electric roller skates do exist

[@mr0661]

I think you are misusing the graph you have there. It has x(maters/min) and y (joules/meter). Misunderstanding of the graph is very clear in moment 7:51 you shouldn't use graph like that, you are not counting that shoes are not contributing to your own consumption. If you use it like that, lets say you are walking your optimal speed, but shoes moved you backwards so that your effective speed would be 0. Would you think that your Joules/Meter would have remained the same? Obviously not, because you are not moving at all, so your Joules/minute should actually be +infinite (because no movement would gained no matter how much distance you are travelling).

[@BrockASchmidt]

1:20 looks like he thought you were just going to walk away 😂

[@tienatho2149]

I think he crossed the red line so the instructor just tell him to go back

[@iainwalker8615]

The major flaw that I see with this idea is that I hike in the woods a lot more than I walk on smooth pavement. Sometimes I have to walk through mud or climb over a fallen tree, but I don’t think these would ever work in a forest environment. Even if you’re someone who only walks around in cities it would still be impractical. One pebble and you’re done for, and they’re extremely loud to walk in so you end up looking and sounding like a clown. It just seems like a dystopian idea created by people who have never actually covered any real distance on their own feet.

[@GazGaryGazza]

Sponsored by Betterhelp - sharing your medical history so you don't have to !

[@KaikiIsTaken]

I simply don't understand how KZbinrs still accept sponsorship from them. The bare minimum before accepting a sponsorship is to research them.

[@yourlocalreptillian1742]

But... skates exist...

[@mr.pizzamarlon]

This is how Apple works. They make the world believes their innovative in creating things for the first time.

[@conor7154]

I love this channel, these examinations of different protects from an engineering perspective is really fascinating. I know you have a doctorate and could teacher but I think you reach way more people this way.

[@Kligan]

If you're a serial killer in a horror movie, these shoes would be the best! You'd be chasing your stumbling victims at twice your normal walking speed! Much more efficient.

[@Krebzonide]

Hold on I think you missed something important. In your graph you slide along the X axis, but shouldn't you move along the Y axis also? If it takes you 250 Joules to walk a meter, and now the shoes let you walk 2 meters with that same motion, then you are really using 125 Joules per meter. Both axis are dependent on how many meters you move, and the shoes change that so both axis should change.

[@mr.nobody9646]

1:18 did he think you were gonna runaway with it?😂

[@abt833]

Move all possible components to the hip, like battery and controllers. Also make the back wheel grippy so the drop of the foot will slow down from friction instead of leg power

[@TesseractLabs]

I've used these for around 6 months, and can definitely confirm they're best for time saving, not energy saving. I use them to make short connections in an airport terminal, and to navigate quickly at indoor conventions and events. If I know I'll be short on time and have the extra stamina, they're worth having in cases like those. Otherwise normal walking easily wins on efficiency.

[@searollinnnn]

Thanks so much for the 6-month review!

[@axeldaval3410]

Great video! I like it more when you get a bit more technical than usual 👍

[@ptk51]

Thank God for people like you who focus and diligent about learning, improving and finding out how useful and good a product is or probably everything in life.

[@synapse349]

I like the concept, and the working product looks promising. As improvements i would say for sure make them lighter, maybe add a couple of different drive modes. Or keep them at current weight, but increase the speed gain to offset the curve. Added functionality could include a normal mode that works as it currently does, but a bit faster, like 150% gain, and a speed mode that boosts a skating motion by 100%, autodetect gait change or manually or by Bluetooth. Maybe a user menu to adjust how much boost you get per mode. Perhaps a coast function. There's so much room to make this a good product

[@777gpower]

1:48 the preferred walking speed is, in my experience, one of the greatest factors for making friends

[@isaiahcaswell4116]

I think it's incredible that they created something that augments your walking speed while making it easy to learn. This product may not be a homerun, but the expertise they learned could be valuable. They may be able to create shoes that cancel out your movement, which could be useful in VR.

[@blazingfury057]

The probelm with that is they would then be catering to a fickle market where theres a push to skip past. Apple, Sony, Xreal, Google, ect have already started working on AR glasses (I have the pre-rebrand Xreal company Nreal air personally) and are wanting to push for a true MR world. This is also why digital realestate that takes real geograohic space is also already a market. Imagine having a digital scratch card ad ar gas pumps, or to have Jesus adds above churches. Distasteful and gross as it sounds (and is) this is the future tech companies want where because your car will naturally give you a video game styled arrow on where you're driving on maps or give you trivia about the history of an area or when its safe to cross the street. In a world where you dont have a reason to leave the mixed reality many people will simply choose not to. Gaming has mostly dropped of VR for simialr reasons. We know that the limitations facing VR currently are far too expensive for an end user to realistically pay for a good experince causing the products available for the equipment you bought not to be very good. Sure I now have shoes to keep me in place, but they cost $200 with my $400 headset coming from my $500-3000 computer. Even if we just say its bundled with a powerful headset for $650 (way below standard loss for game consoles but for the argument) what company is going to make games that are both interactive and expansive enough for this mechanic to be of value at sucha high asking price. Perosnally i would enjoy it, but i also enjoy the sega32x and CD which are simialr in concept but also did not perform well for reasons that could easily be key word translated. Mr-next gen VR- currently being replaced gen The shoes- console add on

[@SilverPhotos]

I'd be curious to see how you factor in wear and tear on various leg joints. Walking at twice your normal walking speed would seem to create more wear, but using the moonwalker shoes, you're actually taking less steps and this would seem to decrease wear on joints and other internal bio-mechanisms. If this can be proven through further calculations then the moonwalkers can be shown to increase energy consumption (not a bad thing necessarily, especially for folks wanting more of a workout or weight loss walking experience) and far less wear on a person's body! Also please do a video of walking with these on a moving walkway at the airport! How fast can you go???

[@westonding8953]

Hope you enjoyed Las Vegas James!

[@HUNFender]

4:29 end of commercial

[@ehrichweiss]

Not that I'd actually use them but to make them more efficient they should consider a roller-skate mode which lets the wheels turn freely so that if you have a downhill portion you don't have to use nearly as much energy and as a matter of fact if it were steep enough you could add regenerative braking so you could descend safely and charge your batteries in the process.

[@RalseiGaming]

I have tried them and please don’t get them they feel super cheap are really loud in person plus the wheel seem to destroy themselves

[@Runoratsu]

Yeah, rollerskating in general is more energy efficient than walking, so it makes no sense for me those things wouldn’t let you do that.

[@RalseiGaming]

@@Runoratsu I 100% agree with this plus these “shoes” are also 1200$ plus you can get second hand roller-skates that work great for way less and they are easier to handle

[@Runoratsu]

@@RalseiGaming Just as an added data point: the fastest rollerskate marathon is under one hour, while the fastest “traditional” marathon time is just over two hours. And that is despite rollerskate marathoning being a lot less popular, so it’s likely the skating athlete setting the record isn’t as genetically favored and unbelievably trained as the other one; a quicker time would probably be possible. Since both will perform at 100% of their available energy, it stands to reason skating twice as fast must be _at least_ as efficient.

[@stedel542]

What if you need to go uphill?

[@RichardHartness]

When I was in High School I had a math teacher who was extremely short and tiny. She was in the 4'??" range. One day my friends were noticing as we walked down the hall with her to a meeting that her legs and feet were moving at a pace about 2x the speed of ours, and she was leading the pace. It's true we all have a natural moving pace. I don't know if she re-trained herself to walk faster but we were all quite impressed with how she seemed to move like lightening. Scaled up, we couldn't keep up with her pace of leg movement for long. We really are all different.

[@notchristianhodges8123]

Bipedal walking takes very little energy because legs are pendulums. A lot of the energy that you calculated in accelerating your foot forward and decelerating your foot before putting it down is automatic. Most of the energy is going to be in lifting the foot and keeping it lifted for the duration of the pendulum swing.

[@harrisbinkhurram]

We just love watching you explain these things, no matter how simple or complex they are.

[@TaguroSuper]

You forget to factor in less friction (wheels) which can reduce the foot drag resistance force and some gravity while walking.

[@captainmonkey4713]

We need thousand dollar shoes to do what Michael Jackson could do.

[@paulkocyla1343]

You could put the battery packs in a backpack and have much lighter shoes. Plus: you could use even more power to drive them, without increasing the weight. Accelerating the backpack is not an issue, as the forward movement is about a constant velocity.

[@dennisquinn8558]

Exactly. Why are heavy batteries being constantly lifted and dropped by the feet? Why aren't they at the waist or higher?

[@KILLRXNOEVIRUS]

​@@dennisquinn8558Yeah, the stupidity is baffling.

[@johanalejandrocazadordepin7225]

​​@@dennisquinn8558 wiring

[@Toalen]

it's not stupid, it's meant to be easy to wear. it already looks ridiculous enough, you don't want to add a dangling wire and a backpack or whatever to wear just to walk

[@dennisquinn8558]

@@Toalen Believe it or not, when wires protrude from a shoulder-pack or back-belt-pack to the back of these shoe attachments, not everyone may be as concerned as you - when it means the wearer achieves a faster walking speed with no additional effort. Those who are concerned simply won't buy it.

[@colorado841]

Are moonwalking shoes a good idea? No: although they might be a thrill to wear, they are a bad idea for saving energy and I am afraid they just don't beat it.

[@petergerdes1094]

I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. Often I want to get somewhere and am happy to spend effort doing so but don't want to jog. If this speeds me up and helps exercise my leg muscles without forcing me to jog (which I find unpleasant and more likely to make me sweat in my upper body because of the arm motions) that's a decent tradeoff. So I'd totally use them if I got a free pair. Not worth spending money for me though.

[@kikixchannel]

Right. If they are used as a vehicle to get you to your destination faster rather than conserve energy, that's a 'value added' that doesn't really care about slightly less efficiency.

[@TheTechAdmin]

2:00 No, it's because he doesn't like walking with me; he told me. 😅

[@brando3342]

I’m not so sure it’s possible to feel “cool” while using those things 😂

[@yeabutwecouldbefreer]

I have a new invention, put 4 wheels on shoes, we'll call it roller skates 😂. No batteries required!

[@mdc32073]

I think they could achieve the same effect passively using ratcheting wheels to allow your motion to glide forward but, then the ratchets would catch when you put any reverse force on them. the forward motion already created by walking would provide the glide forward. Kinda like roller skates that would only allow the wheels to roll in one direction and maybe add drag adjustments to adjust the speed of the glide forward like a rod and reel.

[@Jimbaloidatron]

I searched the comments for this; I figured I wouldn't be the first! They need a smooth enough surface anyhow.

[@dm5rkt]

There exists such things already. They are used by cross country skiers for training on tarmac surfaces in the summer. Called rollerskis. They have ratcheting rear wheels. It is possible to go very fast just striding along without even using poles. Much faster than these electric shoes. Up or downhill too. Only downside is they have no brakes, but experienced skiers can brake by putting the skis into a V shape.

[@truecrimewithglenclark9098]

im glad someone is here asking all the important questions

[@SecretionOrb]

It seems to me that the solution would be to put the weight of the batteries on a belt, as the inefficiency comes from carrying the weight on your feet. I do like the idea of using something like this for exercise. I’m curious how it would target muscles differently by taking deep steps while being propelled forward.

[@theploymaker]

You could use them as an excercise device by having the wheels turn the opposite way from where you're walking. Then you have the 5 lb weights and it takes more steps to get where youre going

[@squiddler7731]

7:40 wait, isn't this misinterpreting the graph? By doubling your walking speed, you're cutting the energy spent per meter in half, so on paper it should still be less energy used than without the shoes. I feel like more attention should've been paid to that, the fact that energy increases as you go slower not because it's physically harder to walk slower, but because the ratio of energy to distance gets worse and worse as your speed approaches zero.

[@SKIN---WALKER]

Doctor - walk more Action lab - walk less

[@AAA-b3y]

walk less---(no) walk slowly consciously but the same distance (yes)

[@yami-131]

There is another layer of biomechanics that adds even further to the complexity though. The difference in stress from stronger slower motions and that of faster less strenuous motions, which depending on the person can make the shoes more or less optimal at the preferred walking speed.

[@vilmoswinkler3050]

Video idea: hydrophobic suit in a pool (it would be interesting and cool)

[@sargonchlimon4472]

i wish that all the product be analyzed by someone like you who can give us nothing more than the truth thank you

[@closeupchannel4365]

Given that around 40% of adults are obese in the US, they should be thinking of ways to make people burn more calories rather than less. Maybe make them 20lbs each, and get rid of the motors?

[@jacktayloor]

You got something wrong. the moonwalkers are designed for usage on the moon! -> less gravity -> less energy consumption

[@Arek_R.]

I'm fat and my "default walking speed" is quite fast and some of my friends and other people complained about it being way too fast lol.

[@albertvirgil4471]

Awesome video dude!

[@colossoanao]

I think if I use a pair of rollerblades I am gonna walk fast!

[@anshulsingh8326]

You converted pounds to LBS, but now i have to convert it to kgs

[@Back_To_Pray]

ActionLabguy: 6:57 Newton: No way he called my physics basic

[@ShamblerDK]

Whenever I see you in your videos, my mind always connects you with the guy who says "... but steel is heavier than feathers".

[@VPCh.]

Energy consumption is one thing, but we generally aren't limited by energy when walking in the real world. The energy from a day of waking can be replenished with just a few snacks through the day, much less weight than the 10 pounds of shoes. Instead it's joint and muscle strain. I worked in a job in exploration where we spent 10 hours a day walking through dense bush and through steep hills/valleys. Our legs would be tired at the end, but the limiting factor to how far we could push ourselves wasn't the number of calories burned, it was our legs aching. The biggest thing is wearing lighter footwear, even minor changes to shoe weight can leave you done after just a few hours. I had to wear steel toes instead of my usual hiking books one day to use a rock saw on a sample and it was the most tired I've ever been. And that's still lighter than these.

[@fluffycritter]

There's also the issue that you're fighting against the acceleration of the shoes themselves when you push forward, which probably adds a bit to your energy expenditure as well.

[@hashysmashy]

3:05 125% of the energy*

[@Uldan1988]

They are loud as normal roller skates , they need to make wheels with some material that is silent

[@suntanironman]

1:48 I wish I knew about this when I was a kid. My mom would always comment about how I was walking too fast (and that I needed to stop walking so fast). And my reply would always be “This is just my natural walking speed.” But of course she would never accept that explanation. 😂

[@kbxbrdr]

the thing is lifting more weight on your feet is a lot different from increasing speed. increasing speed is more cardiovascular energy expenditure, while lifting more weight from the shoes is more muscle fatigue (which is a lot less taxing since it's more concentrated in your most active muscles)

[@kbxbrdr]

also it's important to note that it's more mentally taxing to keep an accelerated and deliberate speed and requires heightened focused. so you're less relaxed.

[@sxbmissive]

“If you’ve ever been out walking with friends” Ah, no wonder I didn’t understand it

[@evdm7482]

These are the hard hitting stories I’m sitting at the helm of YT waiting for

[@Ramiromasters]

Now I get it! "Moonwalk shoes" because these shoes would only be efficient in lower gravity! Most of the energy walking goes towards fighting gravity instead of propelling you forward, but in low gravity you spend time bouncing back to get enough traction for the next step, obligating you to take longer slower strides. Moonwalk shoes, in low gravity, would provide you with extra weight on your feet giving you more traction and compensating for a longer slower stride with rotational motion, although, wheels with larger surface area may be needed.

[@brauljo]

1:09 nothing about it seems like a great idea

[@vinceofdeath1361]

Another thing I think is worth considering here is based on personal preference. Do you prefer to move faster with less resistance or slower with more? Take bike gears for example. Some people prefer to rotate the pedals more on a lower gear where people like myself prefer the opposite. We might both be traveling at the same speed but the difference lies in how we prefer to use our muscles to get there. For people like myself I feel like these shoes would be great because they wouldn't feel as cumbersome to us. I'd much prefer to move the extra weight than have to move faster.

[@mymalinoisadventures2252]

Ive always loved the people movers at the airport, where you can walk at normal speed but your actually cruising by pretty fast.

[@luluonly486]

Anyone remember wheelies lol? Now that was a cool shoe

[@Jhoffa22_]

1:20 dude thought you were about to walk off with the shoes and he started chasing you trying to play it off...😭😂😭

[@KiranKumarBokkesam]

Thanks for the consumer review, man! ❤

[@Patralgan]

I can imagine a video titled "Action Lab out of context" and it includes gems like "walking is an interesting concept"

[@whanowa]

Was the guy at 1:20 afraid you would just walk off and steal them? LOL

[@Siberius-]

2:00 - That preferred walking rate thing being about how each individual has a specific natural walking speed that their body has found burns the least amount of energy, does not account for how this walking pace changes depending on the environment. People naturally walk faster in faster-paced environments, like in the city, or in a mall (depending on the vibes), and they walk slower when on a beach or some leisurely location/environment. Maybe those are just examples of deviation away from their optimal pace, though, I suppose. It's what they're relative to. Doesn't feel like a deviation from their preference though, it's just how fast they naturally go... they're not forcing themselves to slow down, or to speed up. So yea, the optimal energy expenditure thing doesn't cover this. Seemingly. So, the optimal energy walking pace being a thing, is true, but their walking pace preference being only due to that, is not accurate to say. Probably.

[@eloquentsarcasm]

I hike 4 miles a day to/from work, at what I call my "roadmarch pace" after years in the Army. 15 minute miles adjusted for terrain. I just turn off the brain, lean into it, and let my boots take me where I want to go. Now in my 50's, the bones and muscles aren't quite as limber as they used to be, but I do it to save money and keep myself fit and I enjoy being in the woods every day for 30 minutes before dealing with people all day. Those shoes might be great in a place like California, but where I live in Colorado, snow and ice would make them a menace. The exoskeleton rigs in testing for the military seem to be far more efficient and safe as they take the load off the bones/muscles of the entire leg and back while keeping the tread and stability offered by good boots.

[@-Cece]

My preferred walking speed changes when i am suffering from a joint flare up. When my ankles and elbows aren't inflamed, i walk a lot smoother and faster. Shin splints affect my speed too. I would not like the added weight of these shoes - when that changes, i would be interested.

[@fishyerik]

Graph said J/m/kg, that is, energy per unit of distance, (and mass) not per walking speed, as claimed at 2:45. Or, it actually said "(Joules/Meter/Kg)" But I don't know how kelvins would fit in, and what the g would stand for, so I assume it's supposed to be J/m/kg. Si unit symbols aren't common abbreviations, they're standardized symbols. Also, does the graph refer to total energy expenditure? Seems like it from the curve to me, and is kind of important. But then again, that wouldn't be the cost of transportation alone. Assuming it's total energy expenditure, and representative, that means preferred walking speed is a compromise, between speed and minimizing "extra" energy expenditure. Motorized shoes might be fun, but I highly doubt they're practical. There are reasons why bicycles have kept their basic design for well over 100 years, no one has come with something that combines all the necessary compromises better. Add electric assistance to a bicycle if you want human powered, but also motor assisted transportation if you want a solution that's overall the most practical. E-scooters can be a practical alternative if you don't want to put in much work yourself.

[@MoncœrCoyoteSmith]

As a person with paraplegia, I would greatly benefit from these. Unless they are too heavy. If they make them more lightweight, the better.

[@A-physics-and-theology-nerd]

What is the margin of error on your calculations? On the curve you were using. My guess would be that, within uncertainty, the personal walking speed, the result at 5:59, and the result at 7:14 are entirely indistinguishable from each other.

[@LiveWire937]

side note on preferred walking speeds: I don't think it's fair to say everyone just intuitively and naturally settles on their own most *energy* efficient walking speed. Anecdotally, most people I know (including myself until a few years ago) don't ever walk leisurely if we can avoid it. We tend to be in a hurry most of the time when walking, and think of it as a sort of chore or work-out that is inherently supposed to be tiring to do. In other words, there's an expectation that we must get where we're going as quickly as possible, and that we will probably have noticeably higher heart and respiration rates when we get there than we did when we left the house. As a result, almost nobody I know walks with intent to save their own energy; everyone's more concerned with saving time. I first really noticed this while walking around places on vacation with my mom: I kept having to ask her to slow down, even though she was the one breathing hard and I wasn't even breaking a sweat. She has much shorter legs than me but weighs about the same; if both our walking speeds were set based purely on energy efficiency, it should have been her asking me to slow down; the only reason it was the other way around is because I work from home and she works in a hospital.

[@damoser]

Make them like a literal moving walkway. Idle them so you can move while standing, and include a gesture/foot posture for stopping.

[@damoser]

Just actual electric skates that move you at walking speed, but can adapt if you choose to walk as well.

[@MarlyGunna]

This a a great debate about the physics and the opinions that come together in play

[@CamiloSanchez1979]

The makers of the moonwalker shoes didn't realize they were dealing with a smooth criminal.

[@GlenHunt]

Other people being jealous of me makes them more efficient.

[@eltomas3634]

The best cheat code for walking I have discovered is, if you are walking downhill, it is best to just cartwheel down.

[@MinusMedley]

Would have been nice to know what design changes were used when making them, considering these are just roller skates with all wheel drive...

[@inanestereo]

There's a device called the Free Aim VR shoes that seems to be this same concept in reverse. Instead of using motorized shoes to propel you they negate your forward motion to give you an infinite playspace in VR. Weight is the major hurdle for both, but I think Free Aim's application is a lot smarter than something you can achieve better with roller skates. The hardware looks nice, though.

[@superluig164]

These shoes would probably work a hell of a lot better as assisted roller blades as opposed to trying to make your _walking_ motion faster. The dynamics of roller blading are a lot different than walking, and would probably lend themselves a lot better to shoes with motors in them than the dynamics of walking. I'm not sure why they didn't go that route - maybe because roller blading isn't that popular anymore? I dunno.

[@Frank_Art]

now i understand a lot about why i get tired, i normally walk faster than most people around me,so ,me slowing down to walk along friends was making me more tired

[@mr.nobody9646]

Bro scientifically roasted the company

[@Bozemanjustin]

Anyone who's ever gone to a theme park with me Complains that I walk faster than any human on earth. My one friend said it was easier to sit on a park bench until I got out of sight and then run to catch up with me, rather than try and maintain the pace that I was doing So it would be hilarious if I was double as fast as I already am Although I suppose what would make more sense is people could finally keep up with my walk On more than one occasion when I'm with someone with little legs, I just get them a wheelchair and push them around... They are more than happy to not have to walk

[@bobthegoat7090]

This is the invention of the century. Finally, someone found a way to make the US focus on something not cars.

[@agentdopkant]

This seems like it would be a really cool way to make an instant treadmill, by counteracting your foreward momentum and keeping you in place. It could also see some really cool uses in the vr industry this way.