Alphabet's Verily is reportedly making shoes that track weight and falls
The ultimate step tracker.
- Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.
Verily is reportedly working on smart shoes.
Your shoes may very well be your next fitness and health tracker.
Verily, Alphabet's life sciences arm, has been reportedly working on smart shoes that can track your weight and movements and detect falls. As reported by CNBC, the Verily has been showing off a prototype pair to potential partners to co-develop the shoes.
Sudden changes to a person's weight can indicate health problems like congestive heart failure. Having a pair of shoes that can accurately track your weight could be a way to alert a person of a more serious condition as soon as it's detected.
The trend of wearables that can detect falls is nothing new. Last year, Apple launched its newest Apple Watch, which can detect when the wearer loses their balance. French company Helite makes protective jackets and vest for skiers, cyclists and motorcycle riders that inflate when a fall is detected. Helite also makes the Hip'Safe a belt for elderly people that inflates airbags to protect their hips in a fall.
And Verily isn't the only company working on beefing up shoes. Nike unveiled last month the Adapt BB, the latest iteration of its self-tying shoes. As if the Back to the Future-style tying wasn't smart enough, Nike's shoes pair up with your phone in order to collect data, make adjustments and even get software updates.
It's not known whether the smart shoes project is active or not. However, Verily isn't the first company to pursue smart footwear. The French company E-vone announced a pair that can also track weight and detect the wearer taking a spill at CES in 2018.
Verily did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
First published Feb. 1, 2019 at 4:27 p.m. PT.
Update Feb. 5, 2019 at 8:03 a.m. PT: Added more background information on smart shoes.
