Getting GPS navigation on your smartphone or tablet is cool but it can be weary to look on the screen every other minute to find the next turn towards your destination. Imagine how convenient it would be if you could somehow tell your shoes about your destination and they guided you towards it. No more peeking at GPS screens every other second.
Such is the concept design of GPS brogue shoes that has been proposed by a British designer, Dominic Wilcox. The idea is to upload a destination to these shoes and then help them ‘light’ the right path for you.
The GPS brogue shoes have a GPS sensor in the heel of the left shoe. Once you click the two heels together, the sensor is activated. You can then feed a destination with your laptop via a USB connection. Once the sensor has the destination, it will prompt the LEDs on the side of the left shoe to indicate which way you should walk.
You can also see the progress of your journey through the status bar on the right shoe. The bar comprises of red LEDs and progresses as you near your destination, thus giving you a fair idea of how close you are.
According to Wilcox, “I hope my GPS shoes will reconnect people to the craftsmanship inherent in shoe-making, but also stretch the boundaries of potential for the industry.” While this remains a concept for now, such a pair of shoes can actually be very cool and useful.