In many ways, the future has been one huge disappointment. We still don’t have flying cars, food replicators, hoverboards, or peace on Earth. What we have instead are rideshare services (which is technically hands-free driving; for you, anyway), Soylent, dopey motorized skateboards, and a racist president. But at least the present day just got slightly more convenient, as Nissan unveils slippers that put themselves away, thereby saving people an untold number of seconds.
As USA Today reports, these self-parking slippers were spun off from technology designed for hotels and meeting rooms. Nissan’s thinking is that the room you’re in should tidy itself up, with chairs slipping back around a table and other pieces of furniture returning to their original spots after being moved around by guests. This self-cleaning technology is actually kind of neat, though slightly less impressive in shoe form. Sure, it does keep people from tripping over their wayward slippers and ensures their shoes are always in the same spot, which must make getting dressed easier in the morning. But if you watch the video, watching actual chairs play a game of musical chairs is much more impressive.
This self-organizing technology is currently being tested in hotel suites and boardrooms in Japan, but there’s currently no word on when Stateside folks can expect to buy a Shoomba of their own.