India’s Answer to Google Glass: The Smartshoe

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/07/24/indias-answer-to-google-glass-the-smartshoe/

by skbohra123 • 12 years ago

138 64 12 years ago

blogs.wsj.com

acchow• 12 years ago

What does this have to do with Google Glass? I believe this is one of those cases where writing your own post title is allowed (encouraged?).

visakanv• 12 years ago

They're both wearable tech, I guess. Title might be better phrased as "Wearable Tech in India".

pyre• 12 years ago

I'm surprised that this wasn't mentioned: http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_...

anoopmunshi• 12 years ago

People should look at technology rather than having a opinion, a person should not have mentioned India's answers to google. A very bad message for a country and to for the business.

matthewmacleod• 12 years ago

This is an awful headline. Not a terrible idea though - always exciting to see new wearables.

kumarm• 12 years ago

Certainly interesting idea. The writeup seems odd though.

one: Title is off. Second: "The shoes sync up with the Google maps smartphone app and vibrate to tell users when and where to turn to reach their destination."

Unless they worked with Google its not possible as out side Google Maps you have no way to notify your shoe about the turn (Through bluetooth).

sambeau• 12 years ago

I'm sure they meant "The shoes sync up with the Google maps SERVICE VIA A smartphone app" and the extra words were probably edited out for brevity. Most people wouldn't understand the difference.

alokdhari• 12 years ago

I am not sure how is it an answer to google glass !! It navigates and counts the number of steps and roughly the number of calories the wearer burns. Now if we consider it as an answer to google glass then is it an answer to smart watch and astronaut's suits(I consider them wearables as they are expensive and loaded with tech). End of the day, title's a bit too misleading I would say but none the less a good invention and I might even go back home and buy it.

CaRDiaK• 12 years ago

Possibly click bait. I think India's Answer to Wearable Computing would have been a little more fitting.

vidyesh• 12 years ago

Its not an apt title but the comparision is probably because it does most of the tasks Google Glass can perform right now.

From the video at lechal.com and article it seems you one can save / share certain location or place and get directions ( shoe/sole vibrates for navigation ). Of course like any other wearable tech it is synced with your smartphone.

jzwinck• 12 years ago

This has a great application for travelers in certain areas. The article glosses over it with "even tourists can plug in their destinations and not have to stop to check their phones" but this could be a big deal for people who spend a lot of time walking in unfamiliar areas where pickpockets roam.

It's really not a good idea to take out your fancy smartphone there to check at each corner, but imagine walking around like you actually know where to go. This even applies to places like London, where there have been multiple cases of motorcyclists riding next to the sidewalk (er, pavement) to snatch smartphones from pedestrians.

icebraining• 12 years ago

I do this with my Nexus tablet and a cheap bluetooth headset, and just listen to Google Maps' turn-by-turn directions. No need for some gimmicky shoes.

collyw3• 12 years ago

I am fairly sure when I was a teen in the late 80's that trainers got stolen. They were a status symbol for that age group at the time, and we had fancy tech like Reebok Pump built into them.

george_morgan• 12 years ago

Related HN post from a number of years ago, covering a similar idea: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3192304

amrrs• 12 years ago

It's the same Le chal shoe from Ducere Technologies

drum• 12 years ago

Shoes are a fantastic idea, and highly overlooked. The biggest hurdle to wearable technology is the friction required to convince a consumer to wear it. We all wear shoes. We don't all wear glasses or watches. Some of us even wear contacts to avoid wearing glasses. The Smartshoe doesn't seem as competitive to Google Glass as it is complimentary. Glasses have a better appeal for visual media capture because you can see what you're capturing in real time and from a better angle. The Smartshoe could have a better appeal for fitness and GPS use cases. Emphasizing 'smartsole' would probably be a better sell than 'smartshoe' though. Letting consumers stick with their personal fashion choices, i.e. Nike, Vans, is a powerful selling point.

onion2k• 12 years ago

It also needs to be useful on a relatively regular basis otherwise there's a dissonance between added value and the additional cost. For these shoes to be useful you need to be walking somewhere you don't know the way to, without someone with you who knows the way with you, for a distance that makes you not want to take your phone out to check you're going the right way occasionally. I don't think I've been in that situation for about 10 years.

If you're a courier or a messenger then these would be fantastically useful. For everyone else, they solve a problem no one really has.

vitoreiji• 12 years ago

You might have just described backpackers.

deepGem• 12 years ago

It's way too expensive for couriers or messengers. Good point though.

7952• 12 years ago

I am not sure that people always need to actively navigate when on foot. You just go in the right general direction noticing places you recognise. You could subtly push the user along paths they have taken before and resist unknown paths. With gentle enough vibration and enough use would you even notice the prompting? It would just become a part of your natural navigation instead of the constant nagging of turn by turn.

bsenftner• 12 years ago

At destination tourist sites, rent the shoes out (or sell the "tour" software to those who own the shoes) so they can walk the same steps as people of bygone eras while listening to the ambient audio recreating the time period. I can see this as being a huge tourist activity for the historical and location-fan minded type.

ziel• 12 years ago

Well, just one person here.. but I have this problem fairly regularly, which may be because I live in NYC and frequently go to new places within the city. I'm not sure how large the market would be, but I suspect there are others like me.

marcosdumay• 12 years ago

Shoes are a fantastic idea if the hardware does not degrade its quality.

Bad shoes can turn any waking into a nightmare. Much worse than becomming lost and needing to ask for directions.

rainhacker2• 12 years ago

The shoes connect to smartphone. Even if the shoes have some technical issue, one can still use the phone.

skalla• 12 years ago

will it tickle the feet?

pqs• 12 years ago

If the only purpose of these shoes is to get directions, I would prefer a pair of bracelets, which I could wear on my wrists or my ankles.

iamtew• 12 years ago

Sounds like something like the Xiaomi MiBand that was announced a few days ago.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/xia...

icoder• 12 years ago

Exactly! Sure it seems 'logical' at first sight that directions for the feet are directed at the feet. But since all signals need to go through the brain anyway, I don't see why you can't replace this with a bracelet or smartphone in your pocket (two vibration patterns, should be easy to learn). Especially the latter saves you a lot of recharge hassles.

Steps could be measured just as well with a clip on my shoe(s) so I can wear whatever shoes I want. I would be surprised if there is no disadvantage at all to run on these shoes (or inlays) compared to a pair of well chosen running shoes.

collyw3• 12 years ago

I a not convinced of the benefits of wearable technology in the immediate future. The watch was the original piece of wearable technology for years, but many people including myself don't bother with them now, because they can check their phone. The other application I can see an advanced version of a heart rate monitor. The fact is these will only appeal to a small part of the population. There are far more people who don't give a shit about their health than do AND want to shell out for something like this.

This article actually gave a new case, for blind people. But considering how frustrating a conventional smartphone can be to get directions (no GPS lock, no signal, the phone has just decided to run slow while you really need it, or it crashes), I am skeptical about how good it will actually be. What is the advantage in having your shoe tell you which way to go over a handheld device like a phone?

vingen• 12 years ago

you wont have to check anything, you can feel where you have to go. If I understood the shoe correct.

collyw3• 12 years ago

Seems a very marginal benefit.

creyer• 12 years ago

I like the idea, but can I suggested also on the same note that they can create a high tech condom, which will let you know how many diseases you have avoided each time you wear it, and it might have also a pleasure indicator, so at the end both partners, will know how much the other one faked. (Obviously this message is intended as a joke, and should not offend anyone)

richmarr2• 12 years ago

There are already litmus-style tests kicking around that change colour in the presence of a disease or virus. Maybe in future all condoms will warn about STDs... although you could imagine that getting depressing if you have an incurable one.

untog2• 12 years ago

You've just painted a horrifically realistic concept for the quantified self crowd. How was my orgasm? Was it better or worse than the one I had two days ago? Is my current partner giving me better orgasms than my previous one? Let's upload all of this personal data to the cloud and get some pretty charts...

carlob• 12 years ago

Like this?

http://spreadsheetsapp.com

binarymax• 12 years ago

Couldn't help but think of this PA gem: http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/11/29

richmarr2• 12 years ago

I like the vision. Those inserts will need to come in different varieties to allow for people who already need inserts for other reasons, e.g. arch support... odour control... (not me obviously, I'm commenting on behalf of a friend)

lmontrieux• 12 years ago

I'm surprised nobody brought up the mandatory Python reference yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka9mfZbTFbk

mukundmr• 12 years ago

What is WSJ upto? How does a shoe even compare to Google Glass? I live in India and I did hear any news about this...

copycat22• 12 years ago

how did this make it to the first page?

inginist• 12 years ago

It sure sounds great contender ;)

blazingswrd• 12 years ago

Hmm......this sounds familiar...sounds very close to this MIT Media Lab project: http://dhairyadand.com/sec/?page=projects&id=supershoes

zkar• 12 years ago

India seems to produce many alternate low cost ideas for the latest technology. However being in India, we don't see or experience any mass market usage of these alternates. Some examples.. low cost tablet,laptop,even the tata nano low cost car don't have mass market adoption considering the fact that there are 1 billion+ people.

rtx• 12 years ago

I guess the problem comes due to positioning. I am not looking for a low cost product. I am looking for a good product at a lower cost.

LukeB_UK• 12 years ago

So every time you wear your shoes out, you have to buy a new pair of these expensive ones?

kinj28• 12 years ago

cool stuff. a potential issue in India market for smart shoe in India is: in most holy places they need to remove footwear & also many a times they get stolen.

noisy_boy• 12 years ago

Indians make sure not to wear the "good shoes" to the temple for the precisely same reason.

kbart• 12 years ago

Can't help it: http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/get_smart-tv.jp...

mdisraeli• 12 years ago

On a similar note, check out Northpaw, a project to help people develop a sense of north - http://sensebridge.net/projects/northpaw/. This exact same method might actually be an easier way to get wearable navigational aids, as it will work with all shoes.

What I found interesting was that the insoles featured had a surprisingly similar height profile to my medical orthotic insoles for pes cavovarus (high arches, inward-turned heels)[1]. I'm all for tech that fits disabilities by default! (although this is probably an accidental by-product of the required space for the tech)

MrBuddyCasino2• 12 years ago

Interesting - does the motor run all the time, or in intervalls?

gusfoo• 12 years ago

does the motor run all the time, or in intervalls?

It runs all the time. I built one of these using a kit from Sensebrige. The results were not as good as I had hoped.

donniezazen• 12 years ago

The shoes sync up with a smartphone app that uses Google maps and vibrate to tell users when and where to turn to each their destination.

You have to take into consideration that internet is not really great in India. Slow internet will force drawing of battery in mere an hour or two. Secondly, Google Maps in India isn't as great as it is in western countries.

I had to literally uninstall Moves because it would eat up at least 15-20% of battery compared to it used to either not take more than 5% of battery in US.

denom• 12 years ago

There has been some research on generating energy from the flexing motions of shoes. Maybe these could be self-powered?

anishkothari2• 12 years ago

Interesting concept. I think this would be great for travellers so they don't have to ask for directions from locals who might otherwise misguide them. For example: http://learningindia.in/how-to-never-get-lost-in-india/ http://indiaopines.com/perils-directions-india/

thisisandyok• 12 years ago

I always feel like such a hopeless tourist when I have to consult my phone for directions. I'd definitely feel a lot happier (and safer) being able to pay more attention to my surroundings.

anishkothari2• 12 years ago

Likewise. I hate looking like a tourist and go out of my way to look/act like a local when I travel (mostly for safety reasons). Now that I've read your comment, I think these shoes might do better in parts of the world that have better maps and faster internet than India. They might have to upgrade the look though!

dreamweapon• 12 years ago

Just wait -- pretty soon, they'll come installed upward-pointing cams. And anyone opposed to having such gear in mass circulation will be derided as "luddites".

logfromblammo• 12 years ago

This is an absolutely brilliant idea.

Wearables like Glass solve the problem of people having their faces glued to their phones by gluing their phones to their faces. And people use their faces for social interaction. So face-mounted tech is immediately noticeable and obvious, especially around eyes and ears. Hence, the nickname "glasshole".

Vibration is not new. I recall seeing video of a belt fitted with multiple vibration motors that always vibrated the motor closest to true north. This allowed blindfolded people to navigate across the test field to a predetermined destination.

This puts the same concept into the least noticeable spot on your body: the soles of your feet. Shoes are nearly impossible to forget when you go out, and we are already well conditioned to tolerate wearing them.

Obviously, it has lower sensory resolution than a visual or audible interface, but it is going through a completely different channel. Over-eye or in-ear wearables have to compete for bandwidth in already cluttered channels. Tactile wearables have a wide open channel, just begging to be used.

Add in an interface for foot-gesture inputs, and you could do a lot more than just navigation and pedometry.

realrocker• 12 years ago

Why is it titled India's answer to Google Glass? Possible explanations: 1. The editors know that Indians are susceptible to jingoistic patriotism. "Wow Indians did this? Really?" 2. The editors think that Indians as a collective are not a piece of the flat world and their accomplishments are more surprising than routine. 3. Now that China has pulled itself close to developed nations, India represents "The Third World Asian Country".

I am not offended. IMO all of the above are true. But I guess it can't be too hard to refer a product by the company name rather than the whole nation.

rainhacker2• 12 years ago

I think it is condescending to associate a product with a country and not the company.

Aldo_MX• 12 years ago

The first thing that came to my mind:

Play Dance Dance Revolution without a pad :D

disposablename• 12 years ago

Was I the only one expecting a self-guided shoe you can throw at glassholes?

India’s Answer to Google Glass: The Smartshoe

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