If an Apple patent application is any indication, athletic shoes may start telling us when they need replacing.
In a patent filed back in July of 2012, Curtis Vock and Perry Youngs are listed as the inventors of a “shoe wear-out sensor, body-bar sensing system, unitless activity assessment and associated methods,” with Apple Inc as the assignee. Vock is an intellectual property lawyer with Lathrop & Gage, a Boulder, CO based law firm.
The idea of the patent is to warn users of athletic shoes when a “critical wear level has been reached,” in which case the shoe may not supply support and could injure the wearer. While the patent may never end up being used for a real Apple product, it’s fascinating to see the company is looking outside of the gadgets we use everyday to the “internet of things” like shoes.
A full PDF of the patent filing is available for download here.
Apple applies for patent on “smart shoe” sensor originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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