Inspired by personal experience and powered by technology, inventor Isaac Daniel has developed revolutionary line of GPS shoes to locate the wearer anytime and anywhere in the world with a single press of a button.
Quantum Satellite Technology, the chosen name of Daniel’s line of shoes embedded with 2-inch-by-3-inch GPS chip, will hit the market next month at a price tag of $325 to $350 per adult sneaker. A children’s line will be available this summer.
There are 1
,000 limited-edition pairs available online and recent orders already reached 750.
Dubbed by Daniels as “peace of mind” and “second eye,” these GPS shoes are designed both for emergency and non-emergency situations. Now, wearers and their loved ones are easily located and protected from escalating crimes and other accidents.
This is targeted mainly to concerned parents who like to track their children and for people with disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore, it may also prove valuable to couples who like to track whereabouts of each other.
Also, the company is in talks with Columbia and Ecuador to use this technology to military boots.
These sneakers work when the wearer presses a button on the shoe to set off GPS. In case of emergencies where the wearer is incapable of pressing buttons like Alzheimer’s patient, authorized relatives or guardians can easily contact the monitoring service to activate GPS and notify authorities for immediate assistance.
GPS sneakers resemble running shoes and available in six designs. Two silver buttons are attached near the shoelaces to trigger or cancel GPS tracking.
A plug-and-wear version will hit the market by fall, allowing shoe owners to detach electronic modules and transfer to new pair of GPS sneakers.
On top of the retail price, buyers must also pay additional $19.95 monthly to turn on 24-hour monitoring service.
While there are other GPS-enabled accessories like mobile phones and fitness watches, GPS shoes are not easily lost compared to others.
Contrary to many available GPS gadgets that get spotty results, Daniel’s company invested millions of dollars and two years of extensive research to pinpoint locations very accurately.
The idea of GPS sneakers came from Daniel’s cumbersome personal experience in 2002. While in New York for business, he received a call from the school of his 8-year-old son saying the boy was missing. Hurriedly and much to his dismay, he traveled back to Atlanta only to find out it was a simple case of miscommunication and his son was safe.
A major obstacle for GPS sneakers comes from retails experts’ opinion that it is a tough sell for brand-conscious kids.
“If (parents) can get their kids to wear them, then certainly there is a marketplace. But I think the biggest challenge is overcoming ... the cool marketplace,” said Lee Diercks, managing director of New Jersey-based Clear Thinking Group, an advisory firm for retailers, in a
press release.
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Leo Blanco is a contributing writer for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
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