High-Tech" is the new key-word. Engineering developments are fastly running beyond our mind capabilities. Fashion footwear industry seems willing to join this trend! In one of my most succesfull posts (3D Printed Shoes) I wrote about the innovative 3D printing machines in footwear. It was just the beginning!

During the last fall season you might have got chance to meet people wearing footwear with lights. These are special sneakers "switching on/off" balancing with your walk. In a first time I was convinced this was just "field" for children (like that footwear with wheels which invaded the fashion kids market few time ago). With my huge surprise I have then been meeting adults, boys and girls, donning lights on their feet. This made me quite wondering about the original brand, how it works, any linked patent, etc. Well, here below what I've discovered so far and, starting from this, new developments about high-tech sneakers!

First, this "firefly" footwear works thanks to a LED  system installed on its heels. Patent US 9,526,294, B2 (Applicant: Troy Larsen, US; Date: Dec. 27, 2016) regards "Footwear with insertable lighting assemby", having

"a sole structure with a cushion layer wherein a lighting assembly, having a switch, a power source, and at least one light source or LED, can be inserted and attached into the sole structure to provide external illumination from the footwear. The cushion layer exhibits a means for transmitting light from the lighting assembly secured within to the exterior of the footwear, the means for transmitting light can take the form of a polymeric material of at least partial transparency, in some cases having a fluid enclosed within or the form of a plurality of light transmission channels."

This system seems taking advantage from a previous patent on the same topic: US 3,008,038 (Date: Nov. 7, 1961; Applicant: M.L. Dickens) titled "Shoe with electric bulb providing illumination". Particularly, this old invention focused on people walking in darkness "or in dimly lighted areas" so to avoid any injury. It was just the beginning of a new footwear industry branch aiming to support new needs by Millenial customers.

Just one website for all: Led-Sneakers.com

Fashion industry, therefore, is trying to adopt new high-tech innovations to improve footwear, in terms of comfort, safety, responsability and health (aka, "smart shoes"). I may define this interesting branch as "Engineering Footwear Industry" (EFI). To what concern "responsible" shoes, I would like to suggest you to read my post 1.4.

If LED system was inititially installed on the soil of footwear to "switch on" the way to nightly runners, I've just discovered another innovative concept of sneakers involving the modern need to always connect to world.

Yes, readers! Cloud-connected sneakers are already in the market! In particular, these special shoes, as a result of collaboration among Fujitsu, SnowRobin and two universities in Japan, "use in-built sensors to track your data and create 'walking experiences' and games for the wearer." In the article by wearable.com  Conor Allison writes that their tech is currently tested in lab, while already practical experiments are ongoing (aka PA-League Walk) to support professional Japanese baseball team.

Further inputs by this new tech regards the chance to simply track step data linked to a proper app on your mobile. See, you don't need to be a professional athlete to enjoy it. It seems not just a game. Many companies are already offering their option about "smart shoes".

Digitsole seems the first sneaker capable to connect, interact and shock absorb via smartphone.

The NIKE Patent n. US 9, 656, 146 B2 titled "Athletic Performance Sensing and/or Tracking System and Methods" (May 23, 2017) seems running towards this way by claiming a method linked to a user device receving data by its performance.

 According to the above mentioned article by C.Allison nobody has already explored "the gaming element" to these smart shoes. I think it's just matter of time!

My concept of "Smart Shoes" now goes far beyond cloud/LED devices. Shoe industry seems quite fascinated by high-tech. I suggest you another article at this regard by Techflier.com. Recently I could even speak about a "wedding" between a branch of this fashion industry and engineers.

In the market you may even find pumps with a color-changeable heel (as, ofc, linked to a proper app in your mobile) by Volvorii. If you're a ballet dancer, like me, you may be even more addicted to the futuristic ballet slippers (aka, E-Trace Ballet Shoes) enabling to capture any dancer's foot movement and trasform it into vibrant, multicolor and digital drawings on your smartphone.

Inventors have already moved far beyond! Can you think about a shoe to tip/tap/type your friends via whatsapp! It's just here, dears, and its name is Dorothy. Never imaged shoes connecting with Google Map? The answer is "Sneakairs"!

After reading this post, can you guess what glamorous step forwards the EFI is making just now? This topic is "thrilling" my curiousity more and more. I'll keep you posted on any further futuristic step by this fashion branch. Stay tuned.

Sources:

We're quite aware of thinking about Fashion Firms as business-oriented which means profit-oriented - no matter what! We often hear about those brands taking advantage from child-labour rather than new shapes of slaveness, or without considering enviromental risks at all. Since the best Solidariety silently walks underground with humilty beyond-human kindness, we know just a bit about those ones, instead, working for a better world. In this post I would like to mention some of them, giving them somehow space they deserve in this whispered "ant" work.

As Italian Shoe Blogger I must start with Tod's which supported San Patrignano Community (Italy) in producing leather bags (more details here: http://bit.ly/2pB5dns). SanPa, as commonly known, is a recovery community welcoming people suffering drug addiction and marginalization. It gives them a "second chance" in life by a rehabilitation programme (based on love). In this way Tod's gives opportunity to some of SanPa guests to get into labour and business markets. 

Moving to the Netherlands, Vimpex International Footwear group got the Dutch Royal Warrant award in 2014, above all, for its particular committment to improve employment conditions.



TOMS Founder, Blake Mycoskie (in the pic here above), started his career in Shoe Business in 2014 inspired by necessity of children growing up without shoes. Today the company is in over 70 Countries giving over 60 million pairs of shoes to children worldwide. This Shoe Firm is today committed also on clean water, safer birth and employment.

On the side of Child-friendly shoes (according to India Committee of the Netherlands), 19 companies, among which the 12 ETI members such as H&M, Primark, Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Next, TESCO, Sainsbury joined the Leather Working Group and MVO Nederland, to face adverse human rights and environmental impacts in their supply chain (data as up to 20 March 2017). Moreover, few days ago (12 May 2017) the Indian shoe company P A Footwear Ltd achieved the Gold Medal Award  by Leather Working Group, above mentioned.

We can get a few news about this whispering virtuous trend. Such approach to solidal shoe business can as absurd (?) spread profits towards more-conscious consumers worldwide. Social Networks, particularly Twitter, show how people are increasingly demanding "responsible" products - within fashion industry, too. An example was the huge campaign boycotting Nike Child-labour production in Asia few years ago.