High Tech High Tops and Hooker Heels

Not since agent 86 took a call from the chief have shoes been this far up the tech tree. In a trend we at Memepunks can honestly claim to have not seen coming, it appears the latest place for innovative gadgets is on the bottoms of your feet. Whether you think they are funny, strange, or the greatest thing since Velcro laces, we've got three pairs of cutting edge foot-ware for your perusal.

The first is the Code M from Dada Footwear. Code M's electronic offerings are fairly straight forward. The shoes contain a 128Mb Mp3 player, a USB port, and a rechargeable battery. The controls for the MP3 player are on the tongue of the right shoe. The shoes communicate with a wireless headset to give you your music on the go. As an added bonus, each shoe has built in speakers so you can share the musical wealth. Now I'm not sure what the advantage is of having an Mp3 player in your shoe, as opposed to say, your pocket. And I am at a loss to come up with a really killer app for Dada's Code M. I suppose skaters and ballers can now flaunt their own theme music while showing off their skills. If you are into the competitive street dance scene, you could dish out the servings without a member of your posse having to lug around one of those bulky boom boxes.

Dada sees much more on the horizon for shoe gadgetry. "After we successfully introduce our music platform, the possibilities are almost unlimited. Our ‘get-fit’ program will provide access to workout-related data, possibly delivered by a personal trainer’s voice. Our ‘get-smart’ program will allow users to forward phone calls from a cell phone to the Code M headset. In the future, GPS devices, navigational systems, and the incorporation of an LED display will give us the ability to stream video and enter the ‘game’ market." Says CEO Lavetta Willis. Since this is all precluded on the successful introduction of their music platform, it remains to be seen if any of these other innovations will materialize.

But one company isn't waiting on work out related data being streamed from your sneakers. Nike recently debuted the Nike+ electronic insert for their running shoes. The inserts contain accelerometer sensors, which measure your speed and calculate distance traveled. From there the shoes communicate with your iPod nano using built in wireless transmitters. With the addition of special software for your nano, you'll hear progress reports over your headphones while listening your favorite remix of Gonna Fly Now. Later you can synchronize your iPod with your computer for a more detailed analysis of your workout.

This actually sounds like a useful although niche application. I'm sure there is a sizable group of people that are both runners/joggers and iPod nano owners. And something like this could overlap information technology with the shoes and mp3 players these people would be toting anyway. Not to mention the WiFi iPod interface is something that could have all sorts of alternative applications. Guided walking city tours or museum exhibits, an add on for something like dodgeball, reality gaming, scavenger hunts, etc. At that point it only comes down to software, networks and imagination.

Speaking of networks, we've saved the best for last. The newest technology is of course reserved for the worlds oldest profession. The Aphrodite Project unveiled their concept for the latest in working girl wear. Called Platforms, these prototype sandals come with all sorts of functionality and safety gear. They feature a panic button which when pressed emits an ear peircing alarm to discourage attackers. The sandals are tracked via GPS and at any point a silent alarm can be triggered that sends an alert to law enforcement or sex worker's rights groups. The shoes also use a dead man's timer with a cellular e911 service for situations when no alarms can be triggered.

The shoes have integrated LCD panels and speakers which can display video, or play downloaded "heel tones". There is also a web component that works along side the Platforms, "that will provide sex workers with a basic email client, calendar, problem client blog, chat rooms and an area for downloading audio and video for the shoes. There will also be a link on the website to track the user's shoes... Workers can also track customers, set up appointments, create schedules, and access health and other resources." The website will use secure logins and maintain stringent information security. Have a look at the flickr stream for some more pics of these revolutionary kicks.

So, are shoes the next big emerging computing platform? I don't think so. But there is no reason to think they wont be integrated into the personal networks of miniature computers we carry around with us every day; wristwatches, cell phones, PDAs, headsets, glasses, mp3 players, etc. And they provide a couple of unique benefits. You can cram much more hardware into a pair of Doc Martens than you can into your Timex. Accelerometers would provide excellent augmentative information to anything that uses GPS or other location technology. And a good pair of techno-shoes would charge themselves through the motions of walking, using Faraday principles or piezoelectric crystals to keep their batteries juiced.

There are a variety of particular groups where a networked shoe could provide added safety or functionality; EMTs, fire fighters, law enforcement, hikers, climbers, young children with roaming tendencies, etc. And while the compu-shoe will never replace the cell phone, it's possible that some upcoming personal mobile computing apps could just come from the ground up. Eventually even Foot Locker might be outsourcing tech support. [via TechEBlog, Cool Hunting, and Boing Boing]



“Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a little more than a century ago?” - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon