E-paper has been made most famous by the Kindle e-book reader, but what happens when you combine e-paper and shoes? Well, you get some of the most interesting sneakers in the world, or in this case, ShiftWear sneakers. ShiftWear is a crowdfunding campaign currently on Indiegogo hoping to raise enough funds to create their e-paper shoes – and note that it’s not just the black and white e-paper of the Kindles; David Coelho of ShiftWear has promised colour e-paper in these sneakers to make for the most customizable experience possible.
According to the pitch, the ShiftWear sneakers are connected to a companion app (presumably via Bluetooth) and allow you to choose whatever still or animation you want to display on your shoes. And because it’s e-paper, you get the extreme battery life to match with the shoes boasting 30 days battery life between charges. And for those concerned about the shoes getting damaged by rain or what not, the ShiftWear sneakers are waterproof to 5 metres, completely machine washable, and are made with Kevlar fibre to boot (pun intended).
The ShiftWear sneakers come in three different styles – the L1 Classic, M1 Classic and H1 Classic, which stand for low, mid, and high-tops. There is also a limited edition M1 which has e-paper covering the whole show as opposed to just the main side panel – but you’ll be paying $1,000 USD for the honour. The L1 Classic starts at $150 USD with each increase in height another $100 USD more, which doesn’t sound bad at all and with funding already passed the $25,000 USD target ($31,800 at the time of writing), it seems likely to happen.
The only concern I would have with putting my money where my mouth is is the fact that they haven’t yet got a working prototype – as many people will know, prototyping is the key time when compromises are made. All the same, if they succeed, you will no doubt have some of the most unique shoes around – if you’re convinced, you can pledge to their campaign here.
What do you think about the ShiftWear sneakers?
Source: Indiegogo via engadget
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