What do a visually impaired person trying to get around the busy streets of Hong Kong and a city person hiking in the countryside have in common? For a start, they could both easily get lost. So, what if you add in a concerned parent who wants to keep track of their beloved child? The answer is, they could all benefit from GPS technology.

GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, is a system that uses signals between GPS satellites and receivers on objects to find out the exact location of objects across the globe. It was created by the US Department of Defense in 1973 to help its military. The system, which now includes over two dozen GPS satellites circling around the Earth, is free for the community to use as a public service.

Since the system became fully operational in 1995, it has been widely used among ordinary people as an essential tool for navigation in everything from bikes and cars to ships and planes worldwide. The GPS devices often have monitors displaying maps so that people can plan their routes and find their own position, which is why they are often used by pilots and drivers. They have been built into mobile phones, hand-held devices and watches, and now they are even being put into shoes.

© Isaac Daniel Group

US businessman Sayo Isaac Daniel, whose company Isaac Daniel has been making footwear since 2000, first had the idea of combining GPS technology with shoes when his eight-year-old son went missing in 2002. He recognised that while other companies were doing similar things with mobile phones and watches, these items

could easily be forgotten and left at home, but the same could not be said for shoes. His son was soon found, but Daniel continued to develop his idea in order to help other people in similar situations. The company invented a line of sports shoes that enable the wearer to be found no matter where the wearer is, using what they call Quantum Satellite Technology^TM. The shoe has a tiny computer hidden inside its sole and a button close to the shoe's lace that can be pressed to send a distress signal and initiate a search.

Another company, GTX Corporation, is also following the growing trend of using GPS for personal safety, especially in relation to children. They are launching a line of smart shoes, known as the Xplorer. Like the shoes by Isaac Daniel, the Xplorer also contains a GPS receiver, allowing the wearer to be found. However, GTX Corporation has

© GTX Corporation

gone one step further by adding a feature called GeoFencing to their footwear. This special feature allows parents to define a safe area in which their children can travel around. If a child crosses the boundary of this area, a text message is immediately sent to the parents' mobile phones, notifying them of the situation.

These 'I know where you are' shoes enable people to keep track of family members and friends, but what about people who want to keep track of themselves? Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University have developed a pair of high-tech shoes to help the visually impaired find their way around. The shoe uses GPS technology to pass information to the wearer about where they are and in what direction they are going. The shoe also has a built-in sound-emitting device and a computer to help the blind detect nearby objects, such as steps and holes in the road. The computer will then send a vibrating signal to the wearer to help them avoid these obstacles.

Using GPS technology to find people is a fairly recent trend, but experts say it is growing rapidly. With a rising interest among parents in using GPS for their children's safety, it is predicted that there will be a large increase in the production and market for smart shoes, as well as in their uses. Indeed, Daniel is now developing ways to use GPS devices in kids' shoes for fun games for children. Although smart shoes are mainly used for personal safety at the moment, the possibilities of their uses, it seems, are endless.

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