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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?"
.. the stench of a Beowulf cluster of these things....
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?
Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
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.
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
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!
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
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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.
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.
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...
Wait up guys! My shoes have crashed...
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
Didn't we learn anything from Wallace and Grommit in The Wrong Trousers,?
-Mikey P
You know, this actually could be the first time some device would run Linux...
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.