Democratic sensors, The Indian way | Anirudh Sharma | TEDxGateway

This interactive haptic footwear, started by Anirudh Sharma, can aid the visually impaired using GPS navigation.
The shoe not only tells the user which way to go using gentle directional vibrations, it also collects data about their daily activities and exercise patterns. The shoe and the insole will work in tandem with an app that collects and collates data, allowing users to set fitness goals and customize workouts.

Though the project was initially meant for blind people, Le Chal co-founder Anirudh Sharma believes it has applications for sighted people as well. Perhaps that’s why for each pair of shoes purchased, part of the proceeds will go to subsidising a pair for a visually challenged person.

Anirudh is working on a democratising sensors in developing economies - and taking technologies beyond the lab. Anirudh's interests lie in fusing human behaviour, aesthetics, design and technology. He has extensively researched on augmented reality. He believes that computers could be much more powerful if their interactions would engage with humans more fully through their aesthetics and tangibility. Anirudh's goal is to build interfaces, one that feel magical, have a quirk and utility to them. Anirudh has built a number of prototypes based on his vision and has gone forward deploying them in the real world.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx