New Haptic Wearable Device. Lechal is a haptic footwear and insoles which was driven to help the visually-impaired navigate their world better. In Hindi, Lechal means take me there. The footwear includes sensors, small actuators and electronic inside the soles that allows it to connect with smartphone via Bluetooth. The user interfaces with an application equipped with the local map on the phone via voice commands. http://www.store.lechal.com
Indian start-up Lechal is now selling fitness insoles and buckles for footwear that track actual foot movement
Lechal smart insoles and buckles
Rs6,999
Tracking
the number of steps walked in a day and calculating the calories burnt
in the process has become the favourite pastime of many a fitness
enthusiast. There are many fitness bands that help track such activity,
and remain paired with your smartphone. But Indian start-up Lechal is
now selling fitness insoles and buckles for footwear that may
provide a more accurate way of tracking movement because it actually
only detects foot movement and not hand movement (fitness bands on
wrists approximate distance walked through motion-detection tech and
various sensors).
This rather unique wearable works with any
footwear and pairs with your smartphone—and apart from fitness tracking,
it can also assist in navigation. Globally, a few brands make smart
soles for footwear, but we are yet to come across a comparable rival
product in India.
What you get is a pair of insoles for your
shoes, and buckles that can be laced up with your footwear—you can use
either with any footwear, or deploy each on different pairs of shoes.The
insoles can be cut to fit your shoe.
The critical part of
the entire package are the two pods, which are fitted with sensors that
track movement and location. These pods have rechargeable batteries (a
dock is provided for charging) and pair with the Lechal app (free for
Android and iOS) on your phone. The app also lets you configure each of
these pods for the leg it’ll be worn on and the shoe type.
The
insoles have a docking mechanism in which you can fit the pods—this is
directly under the foot arch. You won’t even realize the pods are there.
You’ll need to be careful, however, about the sports shoe you use them
in. For they do add some bulk under your foot, pushing the foot itself
more towards the top of the shoe. If you are wearing one of the
newer-gen sock-like sports shoes (such as the Nike Free 3.0 Flyknit),
the soles might not fit well. But if it’s the more conventional designs
(such as the Nike Air Zoom series), they do. Alternatively, you can
install the buckles with the shoelaces, and dock the pods on those—this
works beautifully with almost any shoe.
The biggest advantage of
these wearables is that the pods track actual foot movement, unlike
fitness bands which sometimes also mistake random hand gestures for
walking. Through the app, you can start workouts and set targets—the
pods vibrate once you achieve the goal.
Battery life is a strong
point (the pods last about 12 days on a single charge). Navigation is
quite uniquely handled too. Just punch in the location you’re heading
for in the app and keep the phone in your pocket—the pods will vibrate
on the right or left foot, to indicate the direction you need to take.
While
these unique wearables don’t come cheap, they do have two distinct
advantages—they are accurate in tracking movement, and they remain out
of the way. The navigation capabilities are a rather nice addition.
Great ideas are all around you, and more often than not, your best
designs will be born out of necessity. A drive to provide a solution to a
problem that exists in your society. For Krispian Lawrence and Anirudh
Sharm, they wanted to create smart shoes that would be an improvement on
walking and navigation aids for the visually impaired. Through Ducere
Technologies, a start-up they founded in 2011, they launched Lechal
(pronounced lay-ch-al, which is “take me there” in Hindi). It’s a haptic
footwear device, which uses vibrations at your feet to allow users to
navigate directions. Their primary target is the visually impaired,
which WHO
(World Health Organisation) estimates to be approximately 285 million
globally and the majority mostly being in India. Nevertheless, they also
wanted to make an inclusive device that serves the community at large.
It took five years, 15 prototypes, a core team of over a 100, and
countless hours of hard work sprinkled with a few eureka moments, to
make the Lechal. And this is how they made an all-inclusive product: [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]Primary Focus
The Indian wearable tech start-up began at reviewing the options
available. The white cane, which is the most common, tends to fall short
when it comes to orientation, direction and navigation.
On the other hand, most assistive devices on the market use audio as
their form of feedback. Seeing as the visually challenged rely heavily
on their hearing, constant audio feedback may be a distraction to how
they acquaint themselves with their surrounding environment. For a more
unobtrusive approach, the duo decided to turn to touch; another sense
that is highly developed due to their impairment.
Through an interactive, haptic based navigational system,
the user can be invisibly but intuitively guided to their destination
through gentle vibrations in their shoes.
Through an interactive, haptic based navigational system,
the user can be invisibly but intuitively guided to their destination
through gentle vibrations in their shoes. The user would set the destination
on their phone, and using the phone’s GPS, it calculates the location
data to convey directions. Once the shoes are synched to the Lechal app
via Bluetooth, haptics are initiated to show the user the way. If the
wearer needs to turn left, the left foot would sense vibrations while a
right turn would get the right shoe buzzing. [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]What is in a Lechal Pack?
Lechal comes as black or red shoes that retail at $100-$150. But with
the inclusivity element in mind, it also comes as an insole and buckles
that you can fit into most closed shoes. The insoles have a docking
mechanism that fits pods directly under the foot arch.
Alternatively, you can dock the pods on the buckles that attach to the
laces; opening up the variety of shoes this can work with. It’s these
two pods that track movement and location, as well as, pair with the
Lechal app. Through the app, you can configure each pod for the shape
type and the leg it’ll be worn on.
The pods also work on offline and outdoor navigation modes, allowing
the user to move around without data connectivity. It comes with a
rechargeable battery that slide into the very back of the insole or
behind the shoe’s heel. The battery lasts 15 days and is referred to as
the “world’s first interactive charger”
because with a snap of your fingers, it audibly communicates the
battery’s charge level. And if the insole is too big for your shoe size,
it can easily be trimmed along the marked size guidelines.
Wearable Tech Benefits
Lechal wants you to look up. To really take in the world around you
with all your senses, instead of looking at your phone all day. So it’s
intentionally designed to be sleek, minimalistic and comfortable to
seamlessly blend into your lifestyle. Thus, In addition to directions,
Lechal works for users who desire fitness metrics. It keeps track of
calories burnt, steps taken, and distance covered. However, Lechal wants
to give its users a more holistic workout by providing accurate
analytics. Unlike other fitness bands that monitor hand movement and
thus approximate distance covered via motion-detection, Lechal only detects foot movement. So, it won’t pick up the random hand gestures as part of your fitness data.
Lechal also dares users to strive for more. Therefore fitness
enthusiasts can set goals, such as calories or distance oriented goals,
and the pods will vibrate once you’ve hit the goal. The benefit of
keeping a log of all your fitness activities and goal wish list, is it
can even suggest routes based on your fitness metrics
to help you achieve your fitness objectives. Because they want it to be
a hands-free experience, there’s the option of setting mini-milestone
goals throughout you routine that will vibrate once you’ve achieved one.
And if you don’t want to take your phone on your next run, you can
switch on the untethered mode, which will store the fitness data in your
pods until you get back into proximity with your phone. But if you
can’t live without your smartphone you can program your footwear to alert you if you’re leaving the house without it.
Got wanderlust in your bones? This piece of tech is perfect for you.
Travellers can spend more time taking in all the new scenery and leave
the navigation to their feet. Before setting out, there’s the option of
marking places of interest, such as restaurants, ATMs and historical
landmarks, on your phone. It’s also helpful to mark multiple stops you’d
like to make before your final destination using Lechal’s waypoint
reminders. This way, it can send reminders or notifications when you’re
close or at these specific vicinities. Going to a place that isn’t
Wi-Fi complaint, save your destinations pre-travel and you’ll be able to
access them via the offline mode.
And for the real explorers out there, you can discover the road less
travelled and record the trail. If you’ve ever had to use Google maps
outside of the urban areas, you know how important a feature like this
can be. It essentially gives the user the power to create their own
travel guide that they can use to find their way back to camp and store
for future use. Sharing is caring, and this app enables users to share
their locations with other users. So if you’re travelling in a big group
you can keep track of all your members. This feature may be of
particular interest to parents and families when they’re out and about
with their children. [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]
For most, $150 can be a steep order. Ducere Technologies acknowledges
this and explains that higher sales of Lechal footwear would considerably lower their cost.
This is because they have already dedicated a portion of the sale
proceeds to subsidizing pairs for the visually challenged. They’re also
thinking about the future of the Lechal app for all consumers. They’re
working on a software development kit (SDK) that will make their custom software a platform for other developers to create apps for their product. Pod placement [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]
That said, Lechal is an impressive addition to the footwear industry.
It’s an inclusive design that puts a lot of thought into solving
problems and responding to the needs of today’s society. By aiming to be
a natural extension of the user, each person can navigate ‘hands-free,
hassle-free and with their heads up’! It’s a perfect example of
designing with purpose.
Great ideas are all around you, and more often than not, your best designs will be born out of necessity. A drive to provide a solution to a problem that exists in your society. For Krispian Lawrence and Anirudh Sharm, they wanted to create smart shoes that would be an improvement on walking and navigation aids for the visually impaired. Through Ducere Technologies, a start-up they founded in 2011, they launched Lechal (pronounced lay-ch-al, which is “take me there” in Hindi). It’s a haptic footwear device, which uses vibrations at your feet to allow users to navigate directions. Their primary target is the visually impaired, which WHO (World Health Organisation) estimates to be approximately 285 million globally and the majority mostly being in India. Nevertheless, they also wanted to make an inclusive device that serves the community at large. It took five years, 15 prototypes, a core team of over a 100, and countless hours of hard work sprinkled with a few eureka moments, to make the Lechal. And this is how they made an all-inclusive product: [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]Primary Focus
The Indian wearable tech start-up began at reviewing the options available. The white cane, which is the most common, tends to fall short when it comes to orientation, direction and navigation. On the other hand, most assistive devices on the market use audio as their form of feedback. Seeing as the visually challenged rely heavily on their hearing, constant audio feedback may be a distraction to how they acquaint themselves with their surrounding environment. For a more unobtrusive approach, the duo decided to turn to touch; another sense that is highly developed due to their impairment.
Through an interactive, haptic based navigational system,
the user can be invisibly but intuitively guided to their destination
through gentle vibrations in their shoes.
Through an interactive, haptic based navigational system, the user can be invisibly but intuitively guided to their destination through gentle vibrations in their shoes. The user would set the destination on their phone, and using the phone’s GPS, it calculates the location data to convey directions. Once the shoes are synched to the Lechal app via Bluetooth, haptics are initiated to show the user the way. If the wearer needs to turn left, the left foot would sense vibrations while a right turn would get the right shoe buzzing. [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]What is in a Lechal Pack?
Lechal comes as black or red shoes that retail at $100-$150. But with the inclusivity element in mind, it also comes as an insole and buckles that you can fit into most closed shoes. The insoles have a docking mechanism that fits pods directly under the foot arch. Alternatively, you can dock the pods on the buckles that attach to the laces; opening up the variety of shoes this can work with. It’s these two pods that track movement and location, as well as, pair with the Lechal app. Through the app, you can configure each pod for the shape type and the leg it’ll be worn on.
The pods also work on offline and outdoor navigation modes, allowing the user to move around without data connectivity. It comes with a rechargeable battery that slide into the very back of the insole or behind the shoe’s heel. The battery lasts 15 days and is referred to as the “world’s first interactive charger” because with a snap of your fingers, it audibly communicates the battery’s charge level. And if the insole is too big for your shoe size, it can easily be trimmed along the marked size guidelines.
Wearable Tech Benefits
Lechal wants you to look up. To really take in the world around you with all your senses, instead of looking at your phone all day. So it’s intentionally designed to be sleek, minimalistic and comfortable to seamlessly blend into your lifestyle. Thus, In addition to directions, Lechal works for users who desire fitness metrics. It keeps track of calories burnt, steps taken, and distance covered. However, Lechal wants to give its users a more holistic workout by providing accurate analytics. Unlike other fitness bands that monitor hand movement and thus approximate distance covered via motion-detection, Lechal only detects foot movement. So, it won’t pick up the random hand gestures as part of your fitness data.
Lechal also dares users to strive for more. Therefore fitness enthusiasts can set goals, such as calories or distance oriented goals, and the pods will vibrate once you’ve hit the goal. The benefit of keeping a log of all your fitness activities and goal wish list, is it can even suggest routes based on your fitness metrics to help you achieve your fitness objectives. Because they want it to be a hands-free experience, there’s the option of setting mini-milestone goals throughout you routine that will vibrate once you’ve achieved one. And if you don’t want to take your phone on your next run, you can switch on the untethered mode, which will store the fitness data in your pods until you get back into proximity with your phone. But if you can’t live without your smartphone you can program your footwear to alert you if you’re leaving the house without it.
Got wanderlust in your bones? This piece of tech is perfect for you. Travellers can spend more time taking in all the new scenery and leave the navigation to their feet. Before setting out, there’s the option of marking places of interest, such as restaurants, ATMs and historical landmarks, on your phone. It’s also helpful to mark multiple stops you’d like to make before your final destination using Lechal’s waypoint reminders. This way, it can send reminders or notifications when you’re close or at these specific vicinities. Going to a place that isn’t Wi-Fi complaint, save your destinations pre-travel and you’ll be able to access them via the offline mode.
And for the real explorers out there, you can discover the road less travelled and record the trail. If you’ve ever had to use Google maps outside of the urban areas, you know how important a feature like this can be. It essentially gives the user the power to create their own travel guide that they can use to find their way back to camp and store for future use. Sharing is caring, and this app enables users to share their locations with other users. So if you’re travelling in a big group you can keep track of all your members. This feature may be of particular interest to parents and families when they’re out and about with their children. [Image: Ducere Technologies / Lechal]
For most, $150 can be a steep order. Ducere Technologies acknowledges this and explains that higher sales of Lechal footwear would considerably lower their cost. This is because they have already dedicated a portion of the sale proceeds to subsidizing pairs for the visually challenged. They’re also thinking about the future of the Lechal app for all consumers. They’re working on a software development kit (SDK) that will make their custom software a platform for other developers to create apps for their product.
That said, Lechal is an impressive addition to the footwear industry. It’s an inclusive design that puts a lot of thought into solving problems and responding to the needs of today’s society. By aiming to be a natural extension of the user, each person can navigate ‘hands-free, hassle-free and with their heads up’! It’s a perfect example of designing with purpose.
If
you came here hoping to find a piece on some new brogues or loafers,
prepare to be disappointed. These are smart shoes, but not in the formal
sense.
Rather than bolting yet more brains to your watch or glasses, Lechal is looking to make your shoe the most intelligent section of your wardrobe.
Hiding
in the sole of this sleek-looking slip-on is an instep of unparalleled
technology. The Lechal's insole communicates with its accompanying smart
phone app via Bluetooth, supplying you with all the fitness metrics
you'd expect of a smart watch: footsteps and distances are recorded,
along with a record of the calories you've burnt while on-foot or bike.
Also
available as an insole to slip into your existing shoes with a battery
pack built into the heel, Lechal are hoping to make a significant
difference to the lives of partially sighted and blind people, helping
them traverse urban centres with new freedom.
Currently available in Amazon.com, you can find out more on the Lechal website.
The tourism industry is moving leaps and bounds to help us see the world in a whole new light, and ideas that were once seen as the material of science-fiction are fast becoming the new normal in 2017. These innovative ideas and projects, which are often now just around the corner, should have you awe-struck about the future of globe-trotting. Here are a number of futuristic trends in travel and tourism that could soon be the present when it comes to booking your next trip.
DNA Analysis
While once upon a time, a trip abroad would be the opportunity to indulge your hedonistic side with continental cuisine and fine wines – many people now see their fitness regime as something that can’t be left behind on the runway.
No one is currently pushing fitness holidays into the future like 38 Degrees North – a fitness company operating from the plush 5-star ME hotel in Ibiza. Their ‘DNA Fitness’ programme uses a mere saliva swab to build a four-day fitness and nutrition programme that is built specifically around your genetic profile.
The hard-work of boxing, pilates, yoga, and lessons in nutrition is all offset by the natural beauty of the Spanish island and the genetic breakdown of your body is sure to leave a lasting legacy on your exercise plans.
VR time travel
The use of virtual and augmented reality as a way of ‘trying before you buy’ when it comes to holiday breaks is something that many companies have been playing around with for a while – but a number of projects are looking to take that a step further.
One of the most ambitious is The Time Machine FET Flagship from the European Commission, which is collecting 2000 years worth of data on European history in an attempt to build a historical simulator that could put the past in front of your eyes using VR technology.
Imagine making your way up the banks of the river Tiber in modern day Rome, before being transported back to a bustling market of the ancient empire, or going back through the construction of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia. This project is tapping into some of Europe’s most impressive archives to make that a real possibility.
Ancestral holidays
Tapping into the past using the technology of the future –DNA testing is an industry becoming vastly more accessible and that some are predicting will be worth over €285 million by 2020.
The potential of tracing your genealogy across the world has already been explored by travel insurance site World Nomads, who partnered with genealogy researchers ancrestry.com to offer an all-paid holiday for one person to explore their genealogy and discover the land of their ancestors with a tailored trip.
The winner from Oregon, USA was sent across the world to South Korea to discover her Mother’s family line and it’s easy to see this genetic approach to picking destinations becoming more than just a one-off in the future.
Future Smart Shoes
New holiday shoes are a must for many looking for a break away, but what if those shoes could act as your tour guide too?
‘Smart shoes’ is a technology initially designed by Indian company Lechal as a way of tracking fitness, mapping out runs and being directed by vibrations instead of having to resort to pulling out your smartphone.
It’s easy to see where this wearable tech solution could step from athletics into tourism – gently guiding city visitors from their hotel to a number of must-see city landmarks across Paris, Tokyo or New York.
Hyperloop Hotels
While these futuristic trends have covered picking your destination and traveling through it, there’s still the hotel experience to consider.
The Radical Innovation Award encourages designers to consider exactly that, with the award as a celebration of big ideas for the hotel industry.
2017’s entries lived up to its name, with the student winner being University of Nevada graduate Brandan Siebrecht, who came up with the idea of the Hyperloop Hotel.
This pressurized tube will connect to 13 cities across America at incredible speeds using Elon Musk’s Hyperloop One network, all while the guest rests up in their luxury suite complete with bedroom, bathroom and living room with flat-screen TV.
The Hyperloop Hotel may sound like a pipe dream but it could be a reality as soon as 2020, according to designers.
The Lechal smart insoles work as a fitness tracker and aids in navigation as well
In The Wizard Of Oz , Dorothy owns a pair of magic slippers that help transport her from Oz to her home in Kansas. Imagine getting hold of a set of magic shoes, that would guide you to your destination without you having to hit Google Maps. The Lechal smart insoles, which translate to “let’s go” in English, have been crafted by an Indian company that does not use magic; instead, it provides navigation via vibrations on your feet.
Lechal insoles use haptic feedback and GPS technology to keep you going in the right direction. It’s the latest addition in the age of wearable technology, where a clutch of devices, from Fitbits to smart T-shirts, sensors that provide you instant information on your workout routine, your calorie intake, heart rate and so forth, seem to have overrun the planet. The Lechal insoles are essentially a pair of rectangular wearable pods that can be attached to the soles of your shoes. It works with an app that you can download on your phone. The app calibrates with the pods and helps you track steps and aids in navigation.
The pods come with a charging docket. The battery life of the pods is almost a week of regular usage—quite impressive in this day of energy-sucking apparatus. The product is an add-on to the device that was initially created to help visually-impaired people navigate city roads.
Once we got rid of our irrational fear of getting electrocuted, we discovered that the pods are rather helpful. The map feature on the app helps you pick a destination and gives you the estimated distance to the place. Once you manage to sync the pods with the app, it will use mild vibrations on your feet to aid you in navigation. So imagine yourself walking down a road. Now you need to turn left—your device will vibrate on the left foot. It takes a little getting used to, but you do, eventually.
In our review device, the navigation was fairly functional and worked well, vibrating slightly, depending on the direction. Unlike a Fitbit, that you glance at every once in a while to check your exercise status, this is much more helpful, as it remains inside your shoe and offers less scope for distractions. However, the syncing process was a tad less satisfactory. Often, the Android version of the app would stop syncing and start searching for the pods. At times, we were forced to bring the phone very close to the soles for syncing.
Another issue we faced was that the insoles seemed too large for our shoes and the pods often got disconnected from the soles. The thickness of the insoles also took some time to get used to. We eventually junked the insoles and attached the pods to the soles in front of the laces.
As far as wearables go, the Lechal insoles are not very expensive and are fairly decent for regular usage, though I could not see much help in navigation, apart from offering help in directions. However, one would hope that the company will add more features and make the insoles a little less thick for simpler use, apart from crafting a user-friendly manual as well.
Getting smarter Smart shoe is an insole that is placed into a pair of shoes. The pre-programmed insole is able to connect to a smartphone via bluetooth and an application in order to select a destination and navigate the user.
Wearable navigation technologies are on an ascendance in a market that is still small and has not many products on offer. This means that you will be hard-pressed to find a pair that fits your style and comfort quotient, while various shoes might not be of comfort to you. This is where Lechal comes in. Brought together in the form of an insole, you can slip Lechal into your favourite pair of shoes. What is more, Lechal does not require you to check your smartphone screen constantly for directions. This means huge power saving on your device and hence a longer battery life for your navigation technology. Lechal is a saviour in that it allows you to transfer the brain app from one shoe to the other shoe. This means that the user stays connected to GPS navigation irrespective of the attire.
As a wearable technology, Lechal makes use of low power haptic feedback vibrations and GPS tracking to keep you on the track. Lechal allows users to tag places of interest and see the previous places attended by the user. Light vibration in your left or your right foot will prompt you about the directions that you need to take. The vibration patterns required for turning and the various kinds of rerouting are coded into the Lechal app. The app also allows you to set specific waypoints on the route, so that when the user reaches a destination, he/she receives notification via haptic feedback. The app can work in the offline mode since it stores all the required map data before hand. This feature is quite helpful when the user plans on traveling abroad. Lechal insoles are usable together with the app to record data on the GPS map. Therefore, if you see a place of interest along the way you only have to tap the ground with your toes once. This is enough to tag the place. Once tagged, you can share the location with friends via your phone and follow your friends in real time by the app.
It also allows users to track their fitness levels in great precision with a pedometer, distance, and calorie count. Features:
Navigate with your hands off your phone.
Put the insoles in your shoes and receive turn-by-turn directions through vibrations in your insoles.
Precise fitness tracking through steps taken, calories, and distance.
It has on offer complete fitness navigation that allows youto pick your routes as per the stats your previous performance generated.
Lechal app allows multiple person co-ordination so that you can set targets and compete with friends.
Lechal allows data synchronization with fitness apps.
In all, Lechal has proved itself to be is more than just a gadget. The wearable technology stays with you under all conditions. Lossless and damage proof, with great battery life and offline capability, Lechal is a complete delight for those who want to walk, ride, or drive around the world hands free, eyes free and care free.
