During Lenovo’s Tech World event in San Francisco this past week, the company revealed a smart running shoe that provides almost everything a fitness tracker can do without needing to bring along the extra hardware (i.e. wristbands, phones, etc.) The smart shoe is the first product of The Smart Moving Platform, a collaboration between Vibram, Lenovo and BJDW (Beijing Design Week) that was started back in 2014.
While the specs of the shoes have yet to be announced, we have been shown some of the features they will have including fitness data collecting such as a step counter and calories burned, the ability to act as a game controller and have LED lights inside the sole to help during use after dark. If you were able to catch it, the video mentions that the lights also have music interaction and foot movement controls.
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It is also unknown how exactly Lenovo will be equipping the shoes to act as game controllers but the guess is use with applications that are dance and sport focused where moving your feet plays a big role in the game.
The look of the shoe is simplified and seems to visually replicate the average running shoe.
The idea to combine a fitness tracker with sneakers can possibly simplify the pre-work out preparations. Also the chances of forgetting your shoes is a lot smaller than the chance of leaving your wristband on the counter.
Since the revealed shoes were a prototype, there was no announced pricing or release date and the look of the product will more than likely be different then when they’ll be released to the public.