Shoes equipped with Bluetooth and haptic feedback pads will soon be available to pre-order, providing feet-first, on the go directions to wherever it is you're headed.

If the wearer needs to turn in a direction, Lechal will send haptic feedback to the corresponding side of the shoe, described as akin to a gentle tap on the shoulder. .
Built by Ducere, the shoes will also buzz if they detect you've left your smartphone behind or if you're approaching an 'area of interest'. Paired with Bluetooth, the accompanying smartphone app offers more information about your location and can also assist in setting fitness goals through step counting, for example.
Lechal - meaning 'take me there' in Hindi - was initially designed to help the blind get around. However Ducere decided the technology could have universal appeal, however, and is planning to take preorders starting 7 March. Commercial profits will contribute towards subsidising the shoes for those who otherwise could not afford them.
Another haptic project which emerged as a tool to assist the visually impaired is MIT's Fingerreader, which uses gentle physical feedback to guide a finger over text on a page, which is then digested by algorithms and read aloud by a computerised voice.