You're on your way home through the park; it's late; it's getting dark; you see a flashing light. The police? An ambulance? No, it's your running shoes, sending a distress call.
Runners Mike Strasser, MS '01, and Steve Myers, MS '98, recently unveiled an invention that signals when shoes need to be replaced. The IMPACT Shoe Wear Indicator uses sensors in the heel and toe to monitor the force exerted on the sole. The sensors relay the information to a microprocessor linked to a tiny light panel on the back of the sneaker. As the shoe ages, the lights dim, then begin to blink when the end is near. Strasser says the invention works rather like test strips that show when a battery is weakening.
The idea, he says, is to prevent foot and knee injuries caused by poor shoe cushioning. "It's ridiculous to have pain before you replace your shoes."
The shoe device was one of dozens of prototypes--including several from Stanford--exhibited at the Smithsonian's "March Madness for the Mind 2001," sponsored by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance.
