DIY Tech Footwear Round-Up
Lately there are an increasing number of shoes on the market that incorporate technology, from running shoes that sync with your iPod to high fashion illuminated heels. Here are a few cool tutorials that show you how to build your own tech-infused footwear.
Light Up and Glowing Shoes
DIY Flashing Shoes
This Instructable shows you how to repurpose the electronics from a pair of kid’s light up shoes and put them into your favorite pair of sneakers.
LED Shoes
Another pair of LED shoes, this tutorial has you build the circuit from scratch using conductive thread, LED sequin beads and puff paint (for insulation and decoration). Metal snaps in the tongue creates an on/off switch.
Rodarte Style Light Up Heels
Alison Lewis of I Heart Switch shows you how to achieve a look inspired by Rodarte’s high fashion light up heels.
El Wire Shoes
Diana Eng’s book Fashion Geek has a project that uses electroluminescent wire instead of LEDs to add some glow to your footwear.
Sound
Get Smart Shoe Phone
Honestly, who doesn’t want to make a shoe phone? Instructables member gardners has a series of Get Smart projects that look like a lot of fun. This one uses a mobile phone and bluetooth headset.
Beat Sneaks: Musical MIDI Shoes
Using force sensitive resistors and an Arduino, these cool sneakers translate your toe-tapping into triggers for sounds.
Motion/Other Interactions
Power Laces: The Auto Lacing Shoe
I love these ‘Back to the Future’ inspired sneakers that have been getting a lot of press lately. Great use of a servo and zip ties!
Joy Slippers
Hannah Perner-Wilson’s tutorial uses conductive fabrics to make analog pressure sensors in custom slippers. These can then act as controllers for a drawing program in the Processing environment.
Power Generating Shoe
This project hacks parts of a crank flashlight and places them in the heel of the shoe for a boost of power when you walk.
For more reading on technology in footwear check out:
- History of the “Smart Shoe” at Fashioning Technology
- History of Musical Shoes from 1930s to Today at Fashioning Technology
- Shoes category on Talk2MyShirt blog
- Rambler Shoes: microblogging sneakers by Ricardo Nascimento
- Footprint: power generating shoes by Marc Beaulieu
- Energy Harvesting Dérive: kinetic shoes by Christian Croft and Kate Hartman
Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakhchyan
Make: Electronics By Charles Platt
Physical Computing By Tom Igoe and Dan O'Sullivan
My son has CP and has wanted a pair of Heely’s. One day he told his friend and neighbor that he was going to get a pair that light up and make noise. We’ve been on a mission ever since. He’s 11 now. He’s quite the tinkerer or should I say De-structor.
He tried putting his singing toothbrush base inside his sneakers.. they weren’t very comfortable. And on and on. I think after reading this, meeting Angela Sheehan at The Cambridge Science Festival I am ready to invite you to our home for a SoftCircuitSaturday Party and see what we can come up with.
Love this stuff!
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