After Google Glass, the search company seems to have turned its attention to the shoe. Google has shown off an experimental product known as the Talking Shoe at the SXSW conference this past weekend. This is in fact a normal shoe containing some embedded electronic circuitry that allows it to connect to the user's Android phone via Bluetooth. Once this connection is established, the shoe starts talking, literally, aloud through a speaker and will periodically remind you to work out until you actually comply. This is possible because the circuitry purportedly includes motion sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope) that track the user's movements. Check out the video:







As the video shows, the Talking Shoe seems to have a personality of its own as it will taunt you "This is super boring" if it finds you just sitting and idling away. Once you start walking, it compliments you "That's more like it". As you start sprinting, it may say "I love the feeling of wind in my laces", but if it senses you working out too hard, then it might come up with "Call 911, because you're on fire". Of course, these are standard phrases that the device uses with some complex algorithm and logic that makes it appear that it is responding naturally. This cannot be termed an invention as similar devices already that make use of iDevices already exist from Nike. With Google Glass about to make a splash soon, we think this can be the next amazing and effective as the user is pushed to work out to save the blushes in public, thanks to the loud-mouthed nagging from this gadget. However, it is disappointing to know that Google seems to be considering this as just an experiment and is unlikely to bring it to the market.

TAGS: Gizmos, Google, SXSW