I end up looking at a lot of different Kickstarter projects (what can I say, they intrigue me) and there are plenty of crazy things over there that have to be seen to be believed.  I have a feeling that the ACTON R RocketSkates fall squarely into that territory.  This isn’t someone trying to Kickstart their potato salad or anything, but were it not for the prototype videos, I’m not sure I would have believed this one.  Plenty of people are already interested, because they’ve smashed through their initial goal in just under a day.  So keep reading for more information about your motorized rolling future.
What exactly are the ACTON R RocketSkates?
They are electric, motorized skates. Simply strap the RocketSkates™ over your shoes and off you go!
Remote controllers? We don’t need remote controls! Your hands are now free for interpretive dance moves as you cruise about town- your feet control the skates.
Each skate has two hub motors controlled by an on-board microprocessor, and are powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. The skates communicate with each other so they maintain the same speed and behavior.
RocketSkates™ connect to smartphone via the ACTON App. You can monitor your skates and their performance. Route tracking, skate diagnosis, battery status, games, and social interactivity; the app keeps you in touch with other RocketSkaters.
A Software Developer Kit (SDK) will be available for developers interested in creating games and app features for RocketSkates™.
I’m not going to lie, when I think of Rocket Skates, I imagine the crazy, out of control, flying off the edge of the world insanity that could only come from the classic Sega Genesis game, Toejam and Earl.
While you won’t be able to rocket across water in the ACTON skates, they are said to move at a respectable 12 miles per hour. ACTON is offering three different models with varying time/range on the batteries:
I’m a bit fuzzy on their math though.  It would stand to reason if the range and speed are accurate, you should be able to go for 48, 96, and 120 minutes respectively rather than 45, 70, and 90.  The “Estimated based on standard usage” warning would cover for some of this discrepancy, but I think it would be important to see some hard numbers.  I wouldn’t want to have a 6 mile trip cut short due to inaccurate estimates.  Probably best to err on the side of caution until they can do more testing.
All in all, ACTON looks to be promising quite a lot.  Time will tell whether or not they’ll be able to deliver on those promises, but enough people have shown faith in them that they’ll at least be able to try.  The Kickstarter has already more than doubled their requested funding, so at least that’s out of the way.  If you’re interested in backing ACTON, the current lowest cost of entry to receive a pair of their skates is $399.
Check out a video of the ACTON skates in action below. Â Also, let us know what you think about these skates in the comments, or on your social network of choice. Â Links to our socials can be found on the left side of your screen.
[button link=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petertreadway/acton-r-rocketskates-worlds-first-smart-wearable-m” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: Kickstarter[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
