Will Motorized Shoes Become Fashionable on the Plant Floor?

Anyone who has ever visited a large automotive or aerospace factory has probably seen people riding around the plant floor on bicycles and tricycles. It’s a great way to cover a lot of ground and save your feet from developing blisters or bunions.

In the future, plant managers may want to invest in motorized shoes. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an entrepreneur unveiled battery-powered skates that strap onto shoes.
According to Peter Treadway, spnKiX are controlled by a hand-held wireless remote device. Thanks to lightweight materials, electric motors and rechargeable lithium batteries (one battery pack per foot), the skates boast a top speed of 10 mph.

All hardware and electronics are integrated into a frame made out of fiber- reinforced nylon. Users vary the throttle with a continuously variable speed control.

“After spending years researching, designing and developing a variety of different prototypes, the miniaturization of certain technologies found in smart phones, laptops and radio-controlled cars has finally made it possible for us to integrate them all into a pair of shoes,” says Treadway.

ASSEMBLY’s intrepid wordsmiths may have to get our paws on this newfangled contraption and take it for a road test . . .