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A Running Shoe For Agent 86?
manganese4 writes "The New York Times (free reg. req.) is reporting on a new shoe from Adidas that contains a ~10KHz chip capable of changing the shoe's characteristics to meet the runner's need. From the article:
'Adidas executives say the shoe is no gadget-dependent gimmick... Each second, a sensor in the heel can take up to 20,000 readings and the embedded electronic brain can make 10,000 calculations, directing a tiny electric motor to change the shoe. The goal is to make the shoe adjust to changing conditions and the runner's particular style while in use. The shoes will have push-button controls, light-emitting diodes to display settings and an instruction manual on a CD-ROM that will advise wearers on, among other things, how to change the battery after every 100 hours of use.' I wonder if the CPU can be overclocked?"
But does it run linux?
.. the stench of a Beowulf cluster of these things....
You can't tune the thing while running? That is so lame.
Does anyone else thing it's a bad idea to throw these sorts of components into something that's going to take a few hundred thousand 100kg (or more depending on speed/weight/height) impacts?
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These running fanatics have a screw loose. They spend a fortune on these fancy shoes looking to improve their perfomance. Yet they always get beaten by some guy from Africa that's never even owned a pair of shoes.
In things like track competitions or marathons, should such 'active' measures be allowed? I mean, what if I had a pair of smart shoes that were attached to a motorcycle...
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
Human feet have thousands upon thousands of sensor sites and they feed back information to the brain which can process all the information in parallel and recognize even the slightest change in environment and adjust accordingly.
So bare feet are better than these new shoes.
I have been pwned because my
Rather than kids tying another's laces together, well have them hacking in and turning someone soles rock hard for the day.
Couldnt they have talked to Swatch or something? Why the hell should a running shoe need a battery? I mean, that's the whole point.. you RUN in them! Kinetic energy, right there! FREE for the taking!
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Assuming that is the clock rate, 20,000 readings and 10,000 calculations per second does sound a bit excessive, especcialy as the calculations must involve at least 2 readings.
And if you thought that was boring you obviously havn't read my Journal ;-)
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Please. I mean, this is like saying the Reebok Pump was "analog technology capable of generating an infinite number of support positions." GIMMICK. Nothing more. But get a famous basketball player to endorse it, charge $200 for it, and it'll fly off the shelves.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
I've only ever seen passive electronics in sports equipment; this shoe won't be legal in most professional sports.
So if it crashes, do you trip and fall? Boy, that'd suck on stairs...
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So... a 10KHz chip can make 10,000 calculations per second? Sure, as long as all those calculations take only 1 clock cycle each. And what good is a sensor that can take 20,000 samples per second if the CPU isn't powerful enough to even make use of all of them?
Honestly, what's the point? If the goal is to change the shoe characteristics, why not include a little adjustable screw so the wearer can manually change various tensions? This sounds like a lousy solution in search of a problem, and a badly marketed one at that.
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Make it solid state and durable. You should have no problems with something that amounts to little more than a processor, battery, some flash memory and some sensors.
There are far more stressful environments for computers in military and industrial settings.
Of all items of clothing, said Rob Enderle, the shoe is a logical one to be a focus of wearable technology. Unlike articles of clothing that must be washed or cleaned, shoes present a more stable place to add useful electronics, he said.
Mr. Enderle has obviously never been in the vicinity of _my_ shoes.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
If you're running forward!
No one's going to buy a shoe you can't walk backwards in.
I have been pwned because my
I totally agree with this. Think of the ways they could have produced power from this. piezo-electric with the vibrations and stomping on the ground (which would probably absorb some of the shock anyway), stirling (or whatever creates changes energy between the heat difference) due to the foot getting hot (which may cool it down some), the swatch thing (a swinging weight with attached magnet to charge a capacitor).
You know what really would have been badass. If they added bluetooth capability between it and a pda so you can track your workouts wirelessly. Then create a bluetooth heart rate monitor with a watch that would intergrate the entire system. You could modify your step and check your heart rate at the same time. I should start working on the patent...
how long before you have to PATCH them?
:p
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Geez, the ONE time the foot icon would actually make sense, it is not even used by /. editors...
I guess I know where to stick my foot next time...
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The New York Times (free reg. req.) is reporting on a new condom from goatse.cx that contains a ~10KHz chip capable of changing the condom's characteristics to meet the user's need. From the article: 'Goatse.cx executives say the condom is no gadget-dependent gimmick... Each second, a sensor in the tip can take up to 20,000 readings and the embedded electronic brain can make 10,000 calculations, directing a tiny electric motor to change the shape. The goal is to make the condom adjust to changing conditions and the user's particular style while in use. The condom will have push-button controls, light-emitting diodes to display settings and an instruction manual on a CD-ROM that will advise wearers on, among other things, how to change the battery after every 100 hours of use.' I wonder if the CPU can be overcocked?
Obligitory reference to the movie "The computer wore tennis shoes"
If these have LEDs now, I'm sure the next 11 years will give researchers plenty of time to add power laces and a voice chip that sounds like Stephen Hawking's.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
tiny electric motor? with a drivetrain? that wouldn't be my first thought... seems like they could make the sole out of something spongelike containing magnetorheological fluids and some electomagnets to vary the stiffness and sponginess
they ask "Where do you want to go today?" when you boot (shoe?) up. This message has been brought to you by MicroShoe FooTware.
we're still stuck with replacing batteries.
if the processor doesn't use alot of power, I'd think if they include some sort of kinetic power generator, that it won't need batteries.
Wait up guys! My shoes have crashed...
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Any shoe that's not a perfect device is taking power from your stride, compressing and expanding the rubber etc.
The only issue is whether you can get some electricity, rather than just heat, from this work. And not increase the total work in a way that would be noticed.
There were some projects to make battery chargers in shoes I recall, but they couldn't actually get as much power as they had hoped from pezio. Springs probably would be noticed.
Has it been over a year since you last donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
100 hours of non-rechargable battery life?? That's like two week's worth of use! How many times do you think a user is going to bother changing the battery before giving up and just using them like any other shoe?
has optimization for stomping on ground while playing warcraft, and then quickly switching to walkjing to fridge for mountain dew. also takes into consideration extra fatness.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
As soon as we start making inteligent shoes theologians will spend endless hours debating whether or not these shoes have souls.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
"an instruction manual on a CD-ROM that will advise wearers on, among other things, how to change the battery"
So, does these shoes have a CD-ROM-drive built-in or how one is going to use the manual on the road? Because, it would suck quite royally ass if the BSOD strikes while running at the woods and you have to try to figure out, how to reboot your shoes. And what if the batteries run out? The only thing you can do with the manual is to wave it and hope someone equipped with pair of AAA-batteries (or whatever the shoes are using) and a laptop would see you (a laptop is required because the manual contains the instructions, how to change batteries).
These shoes will bring us to a totally new level of complexity of having some exercise.
That's roughly every ten days. Can you imagine changing your shoe batteries every ten days? And I thought it was bad changing my mouse batteries every four months...
-JemNow if they had wireless and GPS they could track your every move, which would presumably be back and forth between your house and a store that sells batteries.
IMO the best way to run is in bare feet, ie, no shoes. That probably sounds stupid to most people, but when your feet are bare, you get lots of feedback and built in reflexes from the nerves in your feet.
One importaint peice of feedback you get, is to NOT LAND ON YOUR HEELS. Your legs and feet are not designed for you land on your heels ( but shoe companys and podaitrists would like you to think so ). Instead, bare feet teaches you to land on the your forefoot ( eg, the area around the balls of your feet, just behind your toes ).
A forefoot strike has advantages over a heel strike, In breif;
Much less chance of injury ( eg shin splints, runners knee, etc ). However, during the first two weeks of learning to run with a proper forefoot strike style, I had sore calf musles. This was the 'numb, lactic acid, ive done more than I am used to' type soreness. This is something your calfs get used to quickly, just like how your biceps grow if you do bicep curls. The main reason for less inury is because the energy absorbed from each foot landing is stored/absorbed into muscles, rather than being driven up thru your bones and joints ( eg, ankle, knee, hip, and back ) as the case with heel strikes.
It stores energy form the landing, and releases it as your body moves over your foot plant.
It allows you to run with minimal vertial motion in the torso area, if your knees are bent when your foot touches the ground. As the body goes over the footplant, the leg straigtens, which keeps the torso in the same vertial position.
And as a result, you end up running very efficently. One obvious thing about running properly ( with a forefoot strike ) is that you become very very quiet, eg, almost completely silent in the feet department, quite the opposite of the comparitive racket most runners make with the enourmous heel striking boots.
Anyway, I think that the best running shoe is one which is simply like a protective layer of skin over your foot, IE, as close to running in bare feet as possible.
And the best way to run is in bare feet, but in rare cases ( or when your just starting out ), bare feet is not always practical ( eg, sharp gravel, areas that are likely to have hidden sharp things ), but 80% of places I find I can run barefoot with no problems.
If you have injurys / problems with running, then perhaps have a look at www.runningbarefoot.org or www.posetech.com, and learn how to run properly ( with a forefoot strike style ), and do not rely on shoes to do the running for you.
This device could use some major improvements, and I think we all agree from the postings.
100 hours battery life, the device can be modified to use kinetic engery. This would make for a nice senior design project in affective wearables. Any profs taking this project up?
GPS Tracking - Keep track of the user as they work out. Using RF to a cell phone the user is wearing, the data can be sent back to a base terminal as the cell phones cache is filled up. This could be especially useful for elderly wearers, so that their wearabouts can be tracked, and monitored by family members. If the family member stays in place for two long, emergency personal are notified, to alert of a possible fall. It could also be helpful to track children where abouts. Ethical issues are another debate.
Sensor technology - not only track foot position, but use the shoe to track Blood Volume Pressure (Oxygen levels and blood pressure) as well as pulse, and skin conductance. Sensors could be easily developed to be placed around the toes and or on the bottom of the foot, as the foot is slipped into the shoe.
Using heads up display technology or just simple voice from the cell phone again, the shoe could give feedback to the wearer as the runner is working out. It could track the workout and give progress updates. Custom programs can be added.
Make the shoe a power source for other wearable devices. It could be a convienent power source for other affective wearables and on board computing devices. All you would need to do is come out with a line of clothing that has simple fashionable connectors that would connect to the shoe to a pair of pants and or shirt so that other devices could be easily added. To allow for fast adoption, allow other manufactuers and universities to make devices for the clothing line. Give money to Sr. Design research projects that can produce wearable sensors to be used and later marketed.
The shoe, being in contact with the ground, can be used as a input / output device. When used in a car, it could direclty interface into the car, to provide the car with sensor data about the user. This could be accomplished with RF, but this is another posibility. It could give the user also other feedback about the car state, including any warnings through changing the shoes conformaty or shape, or provide a vibration. It could be easily used to keep a driver awake if he or she started to fall asleep at the wheel.
It can be used as another form of authentication. Using RF, the shoe can be used as a way of identifying the wearer based on walking styles and patterns of movement. Afater a series of steps, the user can be considered authenticated, and then can procede to move around a building with out using an ID card for entry, but instead, the shoe will transmit the user identity. Cars security, computer security, etc.
It can be used in hospitals as a tracking system for patients, nurses and doctors. It can be especially useful for ER nurses, for they are on their feet alot; so if it could detect stress in wearers legs, it could advise them to sit down and take a break. I know ER nurses can suffer from being on concrete floors for too long. This shoe can be a great help. My aunt could have used this.
This shoe though would pose a problem for airport security....have the manufactures thought about this, especially when it becomes more common place...
Keeping track of little kids is big problem for class field trips. This could be used to help enforce the buddy system. If uniforms were a must at school, these could be part of them.
If hte shoes could provide enough curent, they could be used as a light source, so that when ladies are trying to get to their cars at night, they could use the shoes as a way to light their way. If modules like these were provided for the shoes, the sales could take off quickly.
Have programs that can be used to help correct technique in sporting events. Baseball, basketball, soccer, Make a
They make piezo-electric actuators - does that count? (no parts move _relative_ to the others - the material stiffens or bends in response to current). Linky
This would be really impressive if the power will be taken from the kinetic of the person who wears the shoe. This is nowadays std-technology for watches, so why don't they use similar tricks for their shoes? The energy produced by a walking human being above 50kg should be more then enough.
When I saw this article in the NYTimes this morning, I first asked myself would you be able to underclock it to get a better than 100-hour lifetime of the batteries. I mean, who wants to change their shoes' batteries every four days?
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run faster than yours. but they have a heatsink.
You can't tune the thing while running? That is so lame.
Actually, you can tune it, but it involves a complex pattern of hops, skips, and jumps.
I think Marty McFly already wore these sneakers in BTTF2. You know, the ones that had the automatic-inflation feature. Of course, they were Nikes.
This definitely tears it; Robert Zemeckis was a $#@!ing genius visionary. can't wait for the "Mr. Fusion."
-joe.