Interactive Shoes

Nowadays it's very hard to see who does not have cell phone. Mobile industry is rapidly growing and new media will be integrated into one thing, which is Mobile Phone. Mobile phone, which leads ubiquitous world, represents new media era.

When people bought their mobile phone they chose it by its industrial design rather than its contents, GUI or UI. However, it is changing. People begin to seek more than the appearance of cell phone. Young generations think mobile phone as their toy. So, phone should be playable. What can help to make the phone playable device? The answer is GUI. GUI means Graphical User Interface including every graphical design in the phone.

My goal is to make GUI interacting with other devices which people always carry.

While I was working at Telecommunication department of Samsung Electronics in summer 2005, I realized the importance of GUI and UI of the mobile phone. As technology develops, we use cell phones as camera, mp3 player and television (DMB phone). It functions as a portable personal computer.

When I went back to Korea during the break, I watched this trend. In Korea, more than half of people in the subway were playing with cell phones. They play 3D games, send text message, hear the music and watch movie or television. I asked people "What is the priority buying your phone?" Most of them answered Phone's looking and design. But as the user gets younger, they are more interested in phone's GUI and phone's specific function such as 3D game than its physical design.

From my experiences in ITP, I got to know what will happen in the future. New media is changing the world right now. As a medium, mobile phone is the center of ubiqutous world. It will function as portable personal computer. In near future, as technology developes, all objects will be embedded sensors or RFID chips. They will communicate with portable devices like cell phone. As an example, I chose shoes, whcih everybody wears.

At first step, this device is for between 13 and 30. But, as I developes other application such as measuring people's weight, it will be for who carries cell phone and wears shoes all the time. In other words, target audience will expand to everyone.

User wear shoes and will carry mobile phone. As they steps, they will see the interactions in the screen of the phone.

I used FSR sensors to measure the pressure of the shoes. Blutooth sends numbers, which are measured by FSR sensor, to the mobile phone. The phone receives the number and J2ME will receive it, and shows the interaction.