Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is getting into the wearable computer industry in a big way, not only with its Glass product, but apparently also with a pair of talking shoes.
The shoes were on display at the company’s SXSQ 2013 event in Texas.
TechCrunch reports that the talking shoes are part of the Art, Copy, Code project, which is aimed at bringing social experiences into normal, everyday objects. Writer Gregory Ferenstein compared the shoes to “Richard Simmons in a shoe” because they use basic data from the user to motivate him.
The shoes urge the wearer to get moving by saying that they’re bored when the wearer is sitting still. However when the wearer starts to run, it says perky things like, “I love the feeling of wind in my laces.” The shoes even handle some of the trash-talking for those who decide to wear them during a sports game by saying things like, “Call 911, because you’re on fire.”
In addition, the shoes’ comments show up on the wearer’s Google+ page if they are linked to it.
Because the shoes were developed for the Art, Copy, Code project, they won’t be going on sale soon. The project focuses on making improvements to interactive advertising, and it’s easy to see plenty of ad opportunities with such a product.
For those who can’t wait to get their hands on a wearable computing device made by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Google Glass is expected to be available by the end of this year and be priced less than $1,500.
Shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) are up .5 percent in Monday morning trades.
