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GPS-enabled Shoe That can Navigate You Home

by Krishna Bora on Sep 23 2012 10:42 PM

 GPS-enabled Shoe That can Navigate You Home
A shoemaker from England has invented a pair of shoes that can help you navigate anywhere you want to go with three simple clicks.
The shoes are called 'No Place Like Home' after Dorothy's famous line from 'The Wizard of Oz.'

The heel of the left shoe is hollowed out to hold a GPS unit, ABC News reported.

A small antenna, covered in red fabric on the back of the shoe reads signals from GPS satellites, the report said.

To start the GPS, you just click your heels three times. A magnet in the right shoe and a sensor in the left detect when you've done it.

The GPS is powered by a small battery similar to that in a cellphone.

There is a computer program that allows you to plot your destination on a map, which you upload to the shoes via USB cable.

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The left shoe has a circle of LED lights on the toe that light up to show you the direction you need to go.

The right shoe has a line of LEDs that act as a progress bar, telling you how close you are to your destination. The shoes communicate via wireless, the report said.

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The shoes have red calf leather inside, homage to Dorothy's red shoes, Dominic Wilcox from London said.

Wilcox was commissioned by the Global Footprint project to design a pair of shoes. He was allowed to make any shoe he wanted.

"I thought about the 'Wizard of Oz' and Dorothy and how she clicks her heels three times to get home," Wilcox said.

"I thought, 'Is it possible to make that real in some way using the technology that we have?'"

Wilcox said he doesn't have any plans for the shoes yet, calling them a "work in progress."

He originally made one pair just for the exhibition at the London Design Festival, but because of all the attention they've been getting, he may try to make more, he said.

Source-ANI


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