Insoles for Smart Shoes
Have you ever thought of a shoes that will show you the way to your destination? Just feed your destination on your shoes and it will help you to reach your destination.
An Indian start-up is promising to do the same in real life
with some new, GPS-enabled smart shoe insoles “Lechal” that vibrates to give
the wearer directions.
These insoles will also count the number of steps taken,
distance travelled and calories burned. Lechal’s smart insoles can be trimmed
to fit any shoe making them unisex and very practical. They contain the Lechal
pod, which is the connected device also used in their line of shoes. The pod
come with a detachable Bluetooth transceiver that links to a smartphone app to
direct the wearer using Google maps, sending a vibrating signal to indicate a
left or right turn.
These smart insole
interacts with your smartphone giving you endless possibilities at your feet,
you can set your destination and receive vibratory feedback showing you the way
to go, set fitness goals, keep track of your steps and calories burnt, create
workouts and track your activity. You can even get automatic notifications of
landmarks around you, and an alert letting you know when you´ve left your phone
behind.
This sounds like a great navigational tool for anyone
interested in subtle tech, but Lechal see their insoles as accessibility
products. Visually impaired people can’t take advantage of many fitness trackers and navigational tools
that others take for granted. By using haptic
feedback for directions, visually impaired users can navigate new places
after using the accessibility features on their smartphone.
The vibrations don’t just tell you left or right. There are
different vibrations to orientate the user, send them in the right direction,
and provide information about upcoming corners and their curvature. It’s a
two-way system too as foot gestures can be used to tag locations, check if
you’re going the right way, and even start and stop workouts.
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