For an AI-powered stride

Smart shoes race past fashion into tech

- SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE

FOR MOST PEOPLE, buying shoes is still a small existential crisis. Do you go classic leather or lightweight knit? Foam midsole or air cushion? Something that makes you look taller, faster, or at least less tired on the way to work? While the rest of us are still agonising over which pair goes best with our leg-day at gym, the footwear industry has already sprinted several steps ahead, straight into the age of smart shoes.

Once a humble matter of stitching and sole, the shoe has quietly become a laboratory of sensors, processors, and even AI. Take Nike's Project Amplify, unveiled this year, which promises to "add a little more power to your stride". The system (because calling it a shoe feels weak) pairs a carbon-fibre-plated trainer with a tiny motor, a drive belt, and a rechargeable ankle cuff battery. Developed with robotics company Dephy, it essentially turns your lower leg into a mild exoskeleton.

"With Project Amplify, we're not chasing world records," says Michael Donaghu, Nike's vice-president of emerging sport and innovation. "We're adding a little fun, the realisation that you can do more than you thought you could."

Walking, supercharged

Nike isn't alone in giving footwear a technological makeover. A Pittsburgh-based startup, Shift Robotics, is trying to reinvent walking itself. Its Moonwalkers, self-described as "the world's fastest shoes", look like futuristic roller skates. They're powered by an adaptive AI drivetrain that learns your gait and accelerates it, allowing you to walk at the speed of a jog, around 7 miles per hour without breaking a sweat or a bone.