Navigating a new city can be difficult, especially if you don’t speak the native language or have to continually look down at your smartphone for directions. Cognizant of this, low-cost airline easyJet has developed an intelligent device that can be inserted into your pair of sneaks to help guide you to your destination without having to refer to a map.
As part of the Barcelona Street Project, the Sneakairs may look like an everyday pair of orange sneaks but they’re packed with smart technology. Housed inside a small 3D-printed case lies a vibration motor and a LightBlue Bean (ATmega328P) that connects to your smartphone over Bluetooth to receive information from an accompanying app, which transmits route guidance back to your feet through tiny vibrations.
What’s cool is that Sneakairs can detect when you approach an intersection via your GPS coordinates and then send a signal to the corresponding foot. For instance, a vibration on your left foot means turn left, while two vibrations indicate you’re going the wrong way and three means that you’ve arrived. According to its creators, the open source prototype will work in all cities supported by Google Maps.