In 2003, inventor Viktor Gordejev (from Ufa in the Ural Mountains) announced that his motorized walking boots (powered by tiny combustion engines which cut the energy required for walking by 70%) were set for production in Russia.

Boris Rudoi, the head of the Space Travel Institute which helped Gordejev realise his dream, claimed considerable interest in pre-orders, adding that talks were underway to market the boots internationally -- and that the boots had been closely guarded from Japanese and American industrial spies during their development.

[Gordejev was inspired by his service in the Soviet army. "I always wished my boots had engines as we had to walk miles every day," he explained. "That's how I came up with the idea."]