Google unveils 'talking shoe'
Internet giant Google has unveiled the latest weapon in their technological arsenal - a 'talking shoe'. Fitted to a pair of Adidas trainers, the newest Google gadget tracks your movements, knows your location and will happily express its displeasure when inactive.
File photo: Corbis
The shoes come complete with a computer, accelerometer, gyroscope and pressure sensor, and provide help should you lose your way, thanks to Bluetooth technology that connects to Google's mapping app.
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Should you find yourself relaxing on a bench, however, the on-board speaker will declare: "This is super boring."
However, it's unlikely to hit the mass market any time soon. In fact, the talking shoe is part of the Art Copy & Code project, which aims to push new boundaries in the field of marketing and advertising.
Speaking at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas last week, advertising arts team leader at Google, Aman Govil, explained to ABC News: "The talking shoe is an experiment in how you can use connected objects to tell stories on the Web today.
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"If you put what the shoe knows through an algorithmic logic engine, it can translate it into copy. Now if you give that copy to an interesting copy writer, you could give the shoe personality. One shoe could be the trash-talking shoe."
Google insists it has no intention of "getting into the shoe business".
What do you think? Are Internet-connected trainers the next big thing in fitness? Leave your comments below...
