Korean researchers develop ‘smart shoes’ designed to help correct walking style

Korean researchers develop ‘smart shoes’ designed to help correct walking style. May. 28, 2015 07:27. jxabbey@donga.com.

A team of Korean researchers has developed "smart shoes" that enable the wearer to correct walking styles.

The team led by senior researcher Kim Jong-ho at the Center for mass and Related Quantities under the Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science said on Wednesday that it had developed the smart shoes that allow the wearer to check his or her own walking style by using tactile sensors and light emitting diodes.

Previous smart shoes, which had been composed of one acceleration sensor and one LED, did not have the capacity to monitor different individuals’ diverse styles of walking. The research team deployed thin tactile sensors in the form of film that are capable of measuring the pressure level at the front, middle and rear sections of the shoe, linking them with LEDs emitting different colors. The sensors and LEDs have been designed to present red, blue and green colors, respectively, when the heel, the center of the sole, or the front section of the shoe hits the floor.

In order to enhance user convenience, the researchers also installed Bluetooth function in the shoes to enable the user to check in real time his or her walking style through a smartphone application. The user can also check the number of steps or turn off LED lighting by using supplementary functions of the application. The rechargeable battery can last for up to 24 hours.

“Patients with diabetes sometimes are forced to amputate the ankle due to decaying of the foot, if and when pressure is not evenly spread on the foot, and if more sensors are installed in the shoes, the shoes could be also used to prevent such a problem,” researcher Kim said. “We have acquired patents in Korea and the U.S.”