Shoes that show you where you're going

Inventors of the LeChai shoe, Krispian Lawrence (left) and Anirudh Sharma expect to sell thousands of their shoes, which provide directions to users by vibrating in the foot. Image: Mid-Day

Now, an Indian start-up is promising to do the same in real life with a new, GPS-enabled smart sports shoe that vibrates to give the wearer directions.

The fiery red sneakers, which will also count the number of steps taken, distance travelled and calories burned, will go on sale in September under the name LeChal, which means "take me along" in Hindi.

The shoes 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.

They are the brainchild of 30-year-old Krispian Lawrence and Anirudh Sharma, 28, two engineering graduates who founded their technology start-up Ducere in a small apartment in 2011 with backing from investors and now employ 50 people.

"We got this idea and realised that it would really help visually challenged people, it would work without any audio or physical distractions," said Lawrence in an interview with AFP.

High technology shoes have multiple uses

"But then we were trying it out on ourselves and suddenly we were like, 'wait a minute, even I would want this,' because it felt so liberating not having to look down at your phone or being tied to anything," Lawrence said.

The LeChai shoes and inner-soles that link to a mobile phone via Bluetooth to provide directions using Google Maps. The shoe vibrates to indicate in which direction the wearer should go. Image: Wearable World News

"The footwear works instinctively. Imagine if someone taps your right shoulder, your body naturally reacts to turn right, and that's how LeChal works," he added.

Smart shoes aimed at specific demographic markets, such as dementia sufferers and children whose parents want to keep track of their movements, are already commercially available.

But Lawrence and Sharma believe theirs will be the first to target mass-market consumers and have focused on creating stylish rather than purely functional footwear.

As well as the red sneaker, they are marketing an insole to allow users to slip the technology into their own shoes.

"Earlier, wearable technology was always seen as machine-like, nerdy glasses or watches, but now that is changing," said Lawrence.

25,000 advance orders

They say they have 25,000 advance orders for the shoes, which will retail at between $100 and $150.

Demand has so far mostly been through word of mouth and through the LeChai website. But the company is in talks with retailers to stock the shoes ahead of the holiday season in India and the United States.

It forecasts it will sell more than 100,000 pairs of the shoes by next April. The shoes are made in China.

Wearable technology is a growing global sector. Market tracker IDC forecast earlier this year that sales would triple to 19m units worldwide, growing to 111.9m by 2018.

The industry's rapid growth has given rise to fears about privacy, although Ducere says it will record no data on users and maintains robust security.

The company also hopes its product will be useful for visually impaired people and experts at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in the southern city of Hyderabad are testing its suitability.

"It's a perfect intuitive wearable item. You may forget to wear a belt or a helmet, but shoes you can never leave the house without," said Anthony Vipin Das, a doctor at the institute.

"LeChal solves orientation and direction problems, it's a good assistant to the cane," he said.

Possible problems include battery failure or loss of Bluetooth connectivity, which Das says could be fixed by providing a live feed of a user's position to a friend or relative, with their consent.

The company says it could use a portion of any future profits to subsidise the shoes for disabled users.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge