Rollkers Aims to Be the Ideal Personal Mobility Device, for the New Generation of Walking

According to French company Rollkers and founder Paul Chavand, walking does need upgrading, because that’s the only way in which we, pedestrians, could keep up with everything else happening around us. Everything is moving faster around the city, except for pedestrians. At the same time, even smaller mobility solutions like scooters and bikes, whether electric or not, can end up stuck in traffic, and thus lose their edge over passenger cars on the daily commute.

Walking remains the only sure way of getting from point A to point B during rush hours, with the caveat that it is still too time-consuming. This is where Rollkers come in: a pair of skate-like devices that turn the sidewalk into a travelator, one of those moving walkways you will find at airports, and large malls or hypermarkets.

As a fun fact, Rollkers came up to be after Chavand decided that the only way to upgrade walking was to put travelators all over the city. In time, he came to the conclusion that putting moving sidewalks under the shoe of each pedestrian was a much more convenient solution.

Rollkers recently made a splash at the 2023 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where the company hoped to secure partners and funding to bring the product into full production. They were officially introduced to the world in 2015 with the first prototype, and have since popped up regularly at trade shows, including the 2021 Dubai World Expo.

Described as the “ideal personal mobility device” and the world’s first-ever undershoes, and tagged with the motto “get ready for the new generation of walking,” Rollkers employ the same principle as the recently introduced Moonwalkers. They look like skates, but they’re not, they are motor-activated devices that power up walking. As you can see in the presentation video available at the bottom of the page, you don’t glide on Rollkers as you would on a pair of skates: you simply walk faster.

Because they strap onto the rider’s own shoes and given their open design, sizing becomes irrelevant, and a pair of Rollkers can fit a wide range of shoe sizes.

According to the maker, the Rollkers can help you walk twice as fast as you would without any motor assistance, all on your own like you have since you learned to. That means a top speed of 7 mph (11.2 kph) and the bonus of such intuitive operation that you won’t even need a single minute of training before use.

Sensors embedded into the device adjust the use of the motor to the stride of the rider at any given moment. This means that, if they walk faster, motor assistance picks up, and then it stops completely when the rider stops. That last part comes in very handy in such situations as shown in the video, like when climbing stairs or getting into public transport.

The left and right devices are wirelessly connected and synchronized, and you get an electronic controller for stabilization and assistance. Tracks technology adds enhanced stability, and each device is hinged in the middle to allow for the natural movement of the feet when walking. The second video below is of the 2015 prototype, for comparison purposes: whereas this one featured several oversize wheels and smaller ones in the center, the prototype shown at CES 2023 rides on conveyor-like rubber tracks.

No word yet on the kind of “powerful servomotor” embedded into the Rollkers or specifics about the Li-Ion battery, but range is 2.5 miles (4 km) or 30 minutes. This would make this product a good first- and last-mile solution, rather than an urban mobility solution all on its own, especially since there’s no riding around on those once the battery is drained.

The Rollkers are also designed to be lightweight and easily transportable, so presumably, you can just take them off if they run out of juice and carry them in a dedicated backpack. That said, reports claim that only one device weighs around 4.5 kg (9.9 lbs), so that possibility becomes less appealing over longer distances.

The Rollkers are the “ideal complement to public transportation – a fun addition to a daily commute as they are small, lightweight and travel easily, providing truly seamless intermodality,” the company says. “They are also healthier and more environmentally friendly,” and bound to get you some extra attention for their unique approach to urban mobility and quite stylish design.

The French company hopes to bring the Rollkers to market in 2023, with an MRSP of $700. The initial timeline was for a 2016 and then a 2018 launch, but as the iconic Predator eventually learned to say, stuff happens.