Concept sneakers track your dancing moves with smartphone app

30 min.

Devin Coldewey

Does your Lindy Hop need a little polishing before you break it out in public??These concept shoes are equipped with accelerometers that detect every step, spin, and tap, relaying your moves to a smartphone app for instant feedback.

The designer, UK-based?Tom Sykes, feels that dance was a great way for young people to exercise and learn, but existing dance products aimed at their demographic (games on the Wii and Xbox, for instance) aren't quite instructive enough. So he set out to make something new.

The result is the GroundWave Shadow, which combines a smart shoes with a smartphone. Each sneaker has an accelerometer built in, and they both connect wirelessly to an special app loaded with dance moves. As you stomp, slide, and turn, the moves are compared in real time?with what you should be doing.

How you are to keep your phone in view while popping and locking isn't addressed, but other than that, the project (still little more than a concept and prototype) seems realistic enough. Many pairs of shoes already come with sensors, like the Nike+ series, which also syncs with an app.

The futuristic shoes may never actually make it to market, but the idea is sound. You can learn more about them at the designer's site.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

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