GPS World

Tag: GPS shoes

  • Vibrating GPS Shoes Help Lead the Way

     

    An Indian high-tech start-up is offering a GPS-enabled smart sports shoe that vibrates to give the wearer directions, according to an article in gulfnews.com.

    The red sneakers count the number of steps taken, the distance traveled, and calories burned. The shoes go on sale this month under the name LeChal, which means “take me along” in Hindi.

    The shoes come with a detachable Bluetooth transceiver that links to a Lechal smartphone app to direct the wearer using Google Maps, sending a vibrating signal to indicate a left or right turn.

    They are the brainchild of 30-year-old Krispian Lawrence and Anirudh Sharma, 28, two engineers who founded their tech start-up Ducere in a small apartment in 2011 and now employ 50 people. They say they have 25,000 advance orders for the shoes, which will retail at between $100 and $150.

    Lechal_app_screen
    The Lechal app works with Google Maps. Photo: Lechal
  • GTX Corp to Develop Wearable GPS SmartSoles

    GTX Corp to Develop Wearable GPS SmartSoles

    Photo: GTX Corp

    GTX Corp, which specializes in putting GPS technology in consumer products, and Atlantic Footcare have signed a manufacturing and distribution agreement to develop and launch GPS embedded insoles. Under the agreement, Atlantic Footcare will be making an investment of $200,000 to advance the development of the new GPS SmartSoles.

    Atlantic Footcare, headquartered in Rhode Island, has been a designer and manufacturer of insoles for more than twenty years and supplies many of the major athletic and shoe companies, national retail chains, and the U.S military with high-quality and comfort insoles. Atlantic Footcare has experience in embedding electronics inside insoles through other partnerships and alliances and has completed the first prototypes of the GPS SmartSoles, which are undergoing testing.

    “This relationship and investment with GTX is a great opportunity to couple technology with an insole, enabling us to produce a truly innovative and cost effective solution to meet today’s growing personal tracking needs. We are very excited at the opportunity to be at the forefront of wearable GPS tracking technology,” said Charlie Sipes, Atlantic Footcare president.

    GTX Corp had been researching ways to further miniaturize its GPS module to penetrate new markets and expand current ones. “Compared to our existing module, this next gen is approximately 30 percent smaller, thinner, and lighter; 20 percent less expensive; and has 200 percent more battery life. It is equipped with a motion sensor and advanced A-GPS technology for pinpoint accuracy and rapid time to first fix,” said GTX Corp CEO Patrick Bertagna. “The opportunity to partner with Atlantic Footcare opened up and with this latest next generation device, embedding the module inside an insole was a natural next step.”

  • GTX Corp Brings GPS Shoes for Alzheimer’s to UK, Ireland

    GTX Corp has announced today that its patented GPS tracking smart shoe will be commercially available in the U.K and Ireland this month. The Aetrex Navistar GPS shoes will be made under license by comfort footwear maker Aetrex Worldwide, Inc., and will be distributed by Tipp Toes, an Aetrex Worldwide distributor located  in Ireland.

    The Alzheimer’s Society in the U.K estimates there are 800,000 people in the UK and Ireland afflicted with Alzheimer’s and Dementia who are prone to wandering. Statistics show that if not found within the first 24 hours, more than half may be found seriously harmed. The GPS technology embedded inside comfortable walking shoes designed for seniors were first introduced in the U.S. and Australia. EE, the UK digital communications company, will be the wireless SIM provider for the GPS shoes after having recently signed a global contract with GTX Corp that will enable the shoes to work in more than 50 countries across the globe which utilize the GSM network.

    The shoe wearer can be monitored remotely, thereby helping to  ensure  their safety, providing peace of mind to their caregivers and  reducing the cost of remote oversight. The shoes are embedded with a miniaturized proprietary module that contains the locator’s integrated GPS/cellular chipset and the SIM card unique to each wearer. The GPS shoes communicate via EE’s cellular network and sends location coordinates via a wireless data connection, similar to sending SMS messages on a cell phone. If the wearer wanders outside of a pre-set location determined by the caregiver, an SMS or email message will alert the caregiver instantly.

    The GPS shoes have been heralded by healthcare and technology authorities around the world and is featured in the “100 Most Important Inventions of Mankind” Exhibit in the National Museum of Science and Technology in Sweden.