When Is Smart Too Smart?

Indian startup Ducere Technologies is about to bestow a new form of high-tech footwear unto the world, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Ducere was started in 2011, by two tinkerers and friends, whose passions were to contribute to this world. At Ducere, Anirudh and Krispian came upon an idea that would take the world by storm. Graduates from MIT and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, these two individuals love to experiment with design and engineer products. Their innovative strategy is that their products are intuitive, non-obtrusive, and easy on the pocket.

Today, Ducere and LeChal has been recognized globally as a pioneer and an innovative brand in wearable technology. Where affordability, availability, and the simplicity of a product, flawlessly engineered to suit your needs are developed. We have a strong team of people who are passionate about what they do and are working hard to strive to bring a change and a paradigm shift into how things work. We hope that the products we develop would change the lives of the people who use them and also help change our attitudes of taking something for granted.

Called Lechal shoes, the Bluetooth-enabled smart footwear will sync up with an app on the user’s phone, which is connected to Google Maps. Once a user inputs their destination, the app will command the left and right shoes to vibrate, telling the user which way to turn to reach their destination.

“The shoes are a natural extension of the human body,” Ducere Technologies cofounder and CEO Krispian Lawrence told the WSJ. “You will leave your house without your watch or wristband, but you will never leave your house without your shoes.”

If you’re not a fan of the shoes’ look — can we all admit they resemble dorky water shoes? — users can remove the shoes’ Bluetooth-enabled insoles and insert them into a more stylish pair of kicks.

The smart shoes were originally conceived as a way to help blind people find their way around more easily, but the company reportedly soon realized that with Lechal shoes, “joggers, mountain bikers or even tourists can plug in their destinations and not have to stop to check their phones as they move because the buzzing in their shoes will let them know when to turn.”