3L Labs puts a fitness tracker in your shoe

By David Nield January 4, 2014

3l labs puts fitness tracker shoe footlogger — Image used with permission by copyright holder

CES is yet to officially get underway, but various product previews and announcements are already filtering out. One of the more interesting early titbits to come out of Las Vegas is the Footlogger from 3L Labs: this fitness tracker fits inside your shoe rather than around your wrist, and could potentially help spot health problems early as well as monitor your daily jog.

Head over to the product’s rather antiquated official website for more details on the Footlogger, which incorporates a three-axis accelerometer and eight different pressure sensors. With a memory capacity of 50,000 footprints, wireless Bluetooth capabilities and a 24-hour battery life between charges, the gadget could tempt anyone looking to get a better idea of their exercise habits.

According to 3L Labs, the Footlogger will be able to record your running and walking speeds, a history of your daily movements and how many calories you’re burning as well as the number of steps you’re getting through. The company also claims its tracker can be used to measure weight distribution, so athletes could use it improve their technique, for example.

Other potential applications for the device include helping with patient rehabilitation (after spinal or nervous system injuries) or even spotting the early signs of arthritis and dementia. Eventually, you might also be able to use the Footlogger to control your favorite video game, be it a futuristic first-person shooter or an Olympics simulation.

At the end of the day you’ll be able to place your sneakers on a wireless charger. Data pulled from your activities will be crunched by 3L Labs and could be returned to you (or your coach) via SMS text or a smartphone app. As yet we have no details on pricing or a launch date, but presumably we’ll be hearing more from 3L Labs at CES — stay tuned to Digital Trends for all the CES 2014 news stories and product announcements as they happen.

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Dave is a freelance journalist from Manchester in the north-west of England. He's been writing about technology since the…

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