Samsung is the last company I expect to make a sneaker, but it is the first company I expect to make a sneaker that can make phone calls. The Shortcut Sneaker could be unlocking a whole new market for sneakerheads.
In collaboration with Cheil Benelux, Elitac Wearables, Bruut Amsterdam, and sneaker designer Roel van Hof, Samsung is only making six pairs. The company seems confident about it being the “sneaker of the future.”
The idea is to control your phone via various foot movements, with each gesture corresponding to a specific activity on your phone. In the example outlined by Samsung, you can “call a friend or play music while moonwalking in these sneakers.” Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure (and hopeful) that the gestures are customizable.
The Shortcut Sneaker uses motion sensors in the soles that keep track of where your feet are in relation to each other. According to the press release, users are going to be limited to five separate foot gestures performing five different actions on their phone. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s a limitation because I don’t know how many different foot gestures I’m capable of.
I’m also thinking about how two people might perform the same foot gesture in slightly different ways. I wonder how intelligent these sneakers are going to be in terms of taking this into account. We’ve been told so far that they’ve had people perform certain gestures hundreds of times to make the algorithm smart enough.
Hoff treated the sneakers as a Samsung Galaxy product and took the assignment quite literally. He used materials that resemble meteorites and supernovae with their textures and colors. The shoes give off a cool, outer-space vibe that I’m digging.
Sadly, these kicks aren’t for sale. The six pairs of Shortcut Sneakers are exclusively available via giveaway for Samsung Members out of the Netherlands who can enter using the app until July 9, with winners being announced the following week.
