Samsung is bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘smart shoes’. Where other people see shoes they’ll wear once out of fear of dirtying them, Samsung sees the ‘Shortcut Sneakers‘ — a limited edition pair of tekkies that’ll queue up your playlist or answer a call from Mom with a Wizard of Oz tap of the heels. Where do we sign up?
In the Netherlands, apparently. See, Samsung hasn’t gone through a mid-life crisis just yet. It is still making and selling smartphones and TVs, but it’s getting into the shoe business because… it can. The Shortcut Sneaker, according to a press release, will only ever see six pairs ever made, and they’re all being given away.
Quaking in our boots
The Shortcut Sneaker was designed in collaboration with Cheil Benelux, Elitac Wearables, Bruut Amsterdam and the star of the show, Roel van Hoff, who brought the sneaker’s Galaxy-like design to life. Embedded in the shoe are five different motion sensors each responsible for tracking specific movements and activating correlating functions. Moonwalking, for instance, plays your phone’s music, while a heel tap answers the phone.
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It isn’t exactly clear what other movements the sneakers can control, and we doubt we’ll ever know. Samsung has said that the only eligible customers able to win a pair of these limited edition sneakers are its own Netherlands-based Members fanbase. It’s certainly an interesting idea and one we’d be keen to see Samsung take a real crack at when it gets tired of making smartphones. Whether that’ll ever happen though… remains to be seen.
