Nike & Apple plan to combine forces to create the most technically advanced running shoe in history.
We have discovered a patent application from the media giant Apple that illustrates their plans to integrate three sensors, a GPS unit and the Nike+ system into a running shoe. Enabling the shoe to tell you the speed that you are running at, your stride length, running style and location. However it does not stop there; the shoe will also tell you how much it has worn (like a BMW 7 series!) and inform you when you are near points of interest i.e. toilets!
Analysis in Paralysis!
Apple believe that by taking your physical characteristics into account (age, sex & weight) the shoe will be able to tell you how you are doing versus your counterparts. I’ve often wondered this but in realtity do i really care? So what if I’m in the top 20% of 15st, 5ft 10, male runners. I’m still at the back of the race. I think this is just another case of theory being different from reality!
Wear and Shoe performance
The Nike+ sensor would provide notification to the runner that the shoe has reached an expected useful lifetime based upon any number of factors, such as, an amount of time that the garment has been used, or the amount of wear detected by the sensor.
“For example, in many cases, a runner will not notice that a running shoe has been worn down to the point where crucial support (arch support, for example) has eroded thereby increasing the likelihood of injury,” Apple explained. “In this way, by providing a notification that one or both of the running shoes should be replaced, the runner may be better able to avoid injuries related to outworn equipment.”
To facilitate these functions, a next-generation Nike+ shoe could include force sensing units placed in shoe sole at three separate points: the heel, midsole, and toe. Each would periodically record impact force sensing data that could be used to characterize a user’s running style in real time.
I’m pretty dubious about how much technology would need to be incorporated into a running shoe so that it could inform you accurately about its wear. I think we would just see the Tom Tom scenario: people relying 100% on Sat Nav when driving rather than using their common sense!
Hybrid GPS
A GPS sensor in the shoe will combine with historical data and a Doppler based algorithm to provide greater accuracy when determining running velocity. The GPS unit will also be configured to recognise when the user is approaching locations of interest. At which point it can then direct them if necessary or play relevant advertisements to the user.
I run to escape from everyday life. I know instinctively (with the help of a watch and some way marks) how fast I’m running. I don’t need a computer to tell me that or let me know that there is Big Mac sale up ahead and “I’m loving it”!
I know that this is just a patent filing and the likelihood is that it will never become reality. There are too many factors that prevent a running shoe from becoming a computer and between me and you, I’m glad!!
