ArchPort Shoes offers a hideaway wallet feature tucked into the sole of its "radically innovative" patented sandals and athletic shoes, with space for cell phones, GPS transceivers, wireless MP3 players, batteries, heaters, and other gadgets soon to follow.
Company founder Matt Potts came up with the idea back in 1989 while playing tennis. "It's just not comfortable to carry stuff in your pockets, especially a wallet," Potts told GPS Daily.
He filed for a patent issued in 2000 and has been improving on the design ever since.
A Maxwell Smart-style cell phone has proved elusive, however. The main obstacle is finding a phone that can stand up to a pounding eight sets of tennis.
"There are some challenges to partnering with a company that can meet all of the criteria necessary to incorporate a phone into the sole," Potts admitted. "However, some cell phones are now durable enough to handle the impact, and cell phones are getting smaller and more resilient, characteristics necessary to employ the concept in footwear."
Tennis shoes and wallets--the new smell of money.
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