Back in the days, before smartphones, navigating to a new place was always a struggle that more often than not resulted in me being lost in the middle of nowhere. Without a sense of direction this is bad news. In 2006 I entered heaven. I got a smartphone that gave me the exact directions and my problem was solved. Or so I thought. Until I went somewhere by bike. Looking at the screen while cycling wasn’t a good idea which meant I had to stop every 2 minutes to check my directions. Not ideal, to say the least. So you can imagine my joy when I found out about Lechal, a smart device that you can mount in the insoles of your footwear and that can give directions using vibratory or haptic signals.
Once you place Lechal in your footwear, you can connect it to an app using Bluetooth. The app allows for turn-by-turn navigation, while walking, cycling or driving. In order to guide you from your current location to your destination, the shoes vibrate to let you know when and where to. The left shoe for a left turn, and the right for a right turn. And it even works offline, so finding your way in another country will be easier than ever before. Without a map in your hand, finally no one will suspect that you are a tourist. In addition to navigation, Lechal can be used as a fitness tracking system by counting your steps, tracking the amount of calories burned, and creating interactive workouts. Lechal can also vibrate when you leave your phone behind or if you are passing a point of interest.
As far as I know, there is already one other wearable navigation technology, the navigate jacket. The navigate jacket has LED lights on the sleeves that light up to indicate a left or right turn. Since this is a very visible form of navigation, being an undercover tourist will still not be one of your options.
What do you think about Lechal? Would you buy it?
Promotional video as a demonstration
Source: http://www.lechal.com/
Hi Danza, thank you for introducing Lechal. I never heard of it before, but I’m really interested in the opportunities it will have.
But I have a few questions for you. How long do you think you can do with a pair of Lechal shoe soles? Normally, when you wear shoes a lot, they will be worn and you have to throw them away. I would be a shame if you have to throw the Lechals away after you wore them a few times.
Another question that raised my mind when I read your blog is; Are the Lechals water resistant? When you have a little hole in your shoe and then you step into a spot with water, would the Lechals be broken?
In my opinion, I wouldn’t buy the Lechals because apps like Google maps also work for me. Added to that, Lechals are €159,99 and Google maps is for free. So for me, they are not worth it.
Dear Danza,
First of all, thank you for your post!
Secondly, am delighted to know there are more people like me! I have learned the hard way that cycling and navigating is a bad combination. You can imagine my excitement for solutions like this one! Although I would easily slip these Lechal’s into my heels, the idea behind the technology sounds amazing!
As a partner in navigating misfortune, I would also recommend a feature that can be placed on the steer of your bike. Like Beeline for example: https://beeline.co/ The design is definitely worth to be checked out! Or perhaps a more economical solution like a phone holder would do!
Kind regards,
Lotte Reesink