Walk Faster in these 'AI Shoes"

 Quite an interesting claim.   Workplace Use?  Military? 

Home/News/Shift Robotics Used AI to Create 'World's Fastest.../Full Text

ACM TECHNEWS

Shift Robotics Used AI to Create 'World's Fastest Shoes'

By PC Magazine, November 8, 2022,   A closeup look at the Moonwalkers. 

The shoes are not cheap; expect to pay between $1,099 and $1,299, with delivery not expected until next April.

Engineering company Shift Robotics has unveiled Moonwalkers, described as the "world's fastest shoes" that allow wearers to "walk at the speed of a run" via a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

Moonwalkers' brushless direct current motor transmits power across eight wheels that react to the natural movement of each ankle to switch between Shift (go) and Lock (stop) modes.

An electronic multilayer brake protection system allows wearers to use stairs, elevators, and mass transit without fear of falling.

Shift Robotics' website states that the shoes' AI adapts to users' usual walking patterns, with a typical learning curve of less than 10 steps.

Moonwalkers have a top speed of 7 miles per hour, and an average single-charge range of 6.5 miles.

From PC Magazine

View Full Article  

Smart Shoe for the Blind

Perhaps unusual means of protection for the sight impaired.

 'Intelligent' Shoe Helps Blind People Avoid Obstacles

The Daily Mail (U.K.), Jonathan Chadwick, May 5, 2021

Computer scientists at Austria's Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and medical technology maker Tec-Innovation have designed a shoe with ultrasonic sensors that can detect obstacles and emit vibrations to warn blind and visually impaired wearers. The sensors are attached to the toe of each InnoMake shoe, which will sell for £2,700 ($3,759) per pair, and the vibrations become faster the closer the wearer gets to an obstacle. Tec-Innovation's Markus Raffer said the sensors detect obstacles up to four meters (13 feet) off, with the device able to identify the nature of an obstacle and its directional path, especially if it is downward-facing.

Shoe Fitting Augmented Reality

Likely we will commonly see AR type methods for trying on clothes.

Does the Shoe Fit? Try It On with Augmented Reality

The New York Times   By Kate Conger

Retailers are increasingly reliant on augmented reality (AR) technology to help consumers try on products virtually, hoping to recreate the real-world shopping experience during the current pandemic. Many retailers are using AR offerings from Snapchat parent company Snap, which started adding shopping filters in January, and currently offers AR try-ons for luxury brands. Some companies have developed AR applications exclusively for trying on their own products, like sneaker firm Wanna Kicks; others have teamed with retailers to help create AR experiences focused on their items. Snap in June released a technical library of tools to help developers recognize and classify objects, in order to generate AR filters for Snapchat. Retailers using AR hope virtual try-ons can make product exchanges and returns less likely.  ... " 

Shoe Recognition less Invasive?

As opposed to facial recognition and analysis.  Taking images of shoes and deriving information from the images, without the same privacy implications.  In BBC Technology:

Tomorrow's cities: Are your shoes giving away data?    By Jane Wakefield

' ... "Online retailers gather all kinds of information about shoppers and physical stores also want to understand how people behave in a shop," he said.  But, he admits: "A lot of these technologies are kind of invasive."

Hoxton has come up with a novel way of measuring footfall - literally by filming people's shoes.
Sherlock Holmes-like, its system can deduce a remarkable amount of information such as age, gender and social class of shoppers from their footwear.

"We have cameras at about 50cm off the ground and it points down so it is less invasive than facial recognition," he explains.

It is surprisingly accurate. It spots the correct gender 80% of the time, better than some facial recognition technologies, according to Mr Mann.  ....  ' 

Watson Ads as Conversation

So what is a Watson Ad?   Its more like an intelligent brand conversation.  Like the idea, taking a closer look.    Any experiences out there?

The Weather Company | With Watson
The Weather Company and Watson have teamed up to bring you Now, for the first time ever, you can have an intelligent, two-way conversation with brands in an ad. Your favorite brands can help you prepare a new meal, shop for the perfect shoes, find your dream car...even relieve allergy symptoms. When you chat with Watson Ads on The Weather Channel App or weather.com, you never know where the conversation might go.  ... " 

More on Cognitive Ads.

Applying the Science of Touch

An area  we worked on in R&D and Product Development, and  sought to apply in retail.

The BBC examines:

From yoga pants to smart shoes: The technology of touch
By Melissa Jun Rowley  ...   " 

Holacracy as Alternative Business Organization

Had heard this term before, but forgotten its exact meaning, seems this is still very uncommon.  I wonder what VCs think about this approach to managing their money?

For Zappos’ Tony Hsieh, ‘Holacracy’ Is the Right Fit
Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s rather unusual lifestyle has often raised eyebrows. Despite a net worth of $840 million, he lives in a trailer (albeit a nice Airstream one) in the middle of downtown Las Vegas with his dog and two pet alpacas. And the shoe magnate personally owns only four pairs of shoes.

But one of the most unusual things about Hsieh is how he runs his business. Credited with taking the company from nearly nothing in 1999 to the multi-billion-dollar household name it is today, Hsieh has organized Zappos as a holacracy. A quick Google search will tell you holacracy involves removing power from management and spreading it across the firm; creating self-organizing teams, and the like. But how does this play out among real people, within the walls of one of the most successful internet companies in America? ... "

Searching and Shopping with Images

Image recognition, manipulation and delivery.  Have yet to see this very useful in shopping.  Practical example uses exist in enterprise knowledge interaction.  Several early examples looked at how to search untagged advertising images.

AI Advances Make It Possible to Search, Shop with Images
Deep learning software has dramatically improved image recognition tools. Pinterest and Shoes.com are testing it out on shoppers. ...  " 

Shared Experience and Empathy

In the HBR:    Indications that the very old adage of having to 'walk in their shoes' may not work the way we always expected.

Beyond Customer Recognition for Retailers

Not a new thing, casinos have been doing it for years.  The capability has been improving for some time.  Now with cheaper hardware?   What is more interesting is how the consumer might gesture back to truly interact with the system.  Where Apple has patents. That was in The Minority Report.   Also, once you are recognizing the face, can you extend the process to eye tracking?  Both recognition and interaction will provide new forms of data.  But is that intrusive?  In Mashable:

" ... Microsoft hints at 'Minority Report'-style customer recognition for retailers ... 
Imagine a store that knows about the outfit you just bought, and can tell you exactly which shoes will go with it. .... 

Microsoft has teased the ability for retailers to employ its Kinect technology to identify customers through facial recognition, bringing the world one step closer to the weirdly prescient future displayed in the 2002 film Minority Report, which was based on a 1956 short story by Philip K. Dick. The introduction of such personalized retail has been viewed not only as a way to provide better service, but also as a dangerous entry into the personal lives of shoppers. ... "

Augmented Cosmetics Reality at Sephora

Have seen this idea tried many times.  Give consumers the ability to have a mirror that shoes how cosmetics will look on their face.  'The 'magic mirror' idea.   Here a new example at Sephora.  An example of augmented reality.

Macy's RFID Rollout Plans

A long running project for improving inventory control at Macy's with RFID tagging.  An update on their progress: " ...  That inventory accuracy will indeed be critical, because Macy's currently is fulfilling orders from almost 300 stores locations, with plans to increase that number to 500 soon. Committing to a customer and a store fulfillment point and then not having the inventory there could cause real issues, especially because of the inventory challenges of soft goods (often just one of a given style-color-size in a given store). ... Harrison added that RFID is also being used in areas, such as shoes, for other reasons, such as sample management, with plans for other RFID applications in the works. ... " 

Stat Tracking Shoes

Nike comes out with Stat tracking shoes.  I had a talk with a person recently involved in the use of sensors and data gathering and analysis in athletics, and I was amazed by the progress that had been made there.  This is another great example, expect to see many more examples in other places.

Nike Data Visualization Ad

An intriguing Nike visualization ad I had not seen before.  " ...  A new ad created by Nike might lead the way in marketers using their data in entirely an entirely new manner. The ad is based on a data visualization of 12 months worth of Nike+ run data from New York City, Digital Buzz blog writes. It is serving as a digital installation in-store ad as well as a reward for the Nike Free Run+2 City Pack Series, it says. "The reward allowed customers to sync their runs to create a custom data painting, that was provided as a high resolution print for them to take home."

Nike laser etched the runner’s name, the distance he or she ran and run path onto a custom fabricated shoe box, which contained a pair of the ‘City Pack’ shoes from their city of origin. YesYesNo NYC help create the campaign.... "

GPS Shoes

I remember the idea being pushed back in 2007. A set of GPS enabled shoes.