Zhor Tech has brought the next innovative step in shoe evolution to CES 2018 with smart shoe insole. The semi-wearable, as might be obvious, is used by placing it inside of a shoe and will, of course, provider wearers with accurate information about the number of steps taken. However, Zhor Tech takes its technology quite a bit beyond step counting, taking advantage of built-in sensors to additionally include measurements about how much fatigue the wearer is experiencing, an analysis of their posture, and sophisticated vibration detection and analysis. Currently, the company only plans to sell its insole to already-established manufacturers of safety footwear beginning in September for a price of $149. As expensive as that likely sounds, that could represent substantial savings to companies operating in construction and service areas compared to the costs associated with workplace injuries and low productivity.
The whole point of Zhor Tech’s Safety insoles appears to be centered on workplace safety. The vibration detection mechanism and other sensors can, for example, alert a supervisor or other pertinent individual if the person wearing the insoles happens to slip and fall. Moreover, the metrics related to steps taken and general strain experienced by an employee would be exceptionally useful for keeping productivity up and accidents to a minimum. Workers who are overly fatigued are more likely to have an accident, so those in managerial positions would be able to use the connectivity features of the insole to keep an eye out for employees who may be at risk – presumably affording a fatigued employee with a break or equivalent to help them not have an accident. Conversely, it may also be an effective way to keep tabs on employees who may not be as active in performing their duties as well as they probably should be or who may be prone to injury for posture reasons. Either scenario makes for a good use-case for Zhor Tech’s new Safety insoles.
Beyond even those uses, the new insoles could also eventually prove useful to the average consumer, particularly looking to narrow down why they are suffering from foot-related or posture-related problems. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t actually plan to extend its reach quite that far, as of CES 2018. With that said, and as odd as it may sound that users may one day need to plug in the insoles for their shoes, it’s not too difficult to see how the technology itself could become much more mainstream.
