It might look like something out of Blade Runner, but new research from Duke University suggests that athletes who train with strobe-embedded eyewear may see improvements in their visual perception over time.

Switching between the two modes involves a Rube Goldberg-esque series of maneuvers and contraptions. It ain’t elegant, but it works. And as a result, the foot-long automaton — designed by a team led by Nikolaos Papanikolopoulos at the University of Minnesota — boasts the freedom of movement of a flying drone with the long endurance and stability of a ground bot.