These boots are made for walking

As the twenty two Short-ARS (Audlem Ramblers Society) explorers set off on a route new to most from Maer, Staffordshire yesterday – see photo taken on walk by Kate Down – they heard about a technological development featured in yesterday's press which could revolutionise ARS walks.

Smartshoes could be the next big thing in wearable technology, a company claims, revealing a pair of internet-connected shoes that connect to Google Maps and guide the wearer with small vibrations.

"The shoes are a natural extension of the human body," the Wall Street Journal was told. "You will leave your house without your watch or wristband, but you will never leave your house without your shoes."

Insoles will be available later this year to turn any existing shoes, and presumably hiking boots, into smartshoes.

Originally developed to help navigation for the visually impaired, other applications were quickly realised.

Taking directions from the smartphone, the left or right shoe buzzes when walkers need to turn at a junction or fork, but are also packed with sensors to record distance travelled and calories burned.

The shoes and removable insoles containing the electronics will be available for around £80 in September, are compatible with iPhones, Androids and Windows and are charged by an interactive charger that reports its charge status at the snap of your fingers.

For those amongst you suspicious about yesterday's date, we are almost four months past AudlemOnline's favourite day of the year. This, we think, is a genuine technological advance – just as we've mastered our SatNavs!

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