Smart Safety Shoe

Prevention is better than cure! This notion formed the basis of the Smart Safety Shoe. In the Netherlands, 1 in 3 workers in warehouses and construction regularly perform physically demanding work. A link between a great deal of physical work and back complaints has been established in several studies. Complaints that can cause employees to call in sick or even become (partly) unfit for work. While this is incredibly unpleasant for the employee, it also imposes costs* on the employer.

The Smart Safety Shoe offers a solution to this. This smart safety shoe is equipped with sensors that help prevent complaints for the wearer of the shoe. The shoe recognises unsafe lifting positions in various conditions and can ward wearers for potential dangers. This is safer for the employee and beneficial for the employer if it leads to less absenteeism.

Producing this shoe requires a great deal of research. Allshoes has been working intensively with Delft University of Technology (TU) in recent years. Research into a smart safety shoe began in 2020. The key question: what actually makes a ‘smart’ shoe smart? This resulted in the concept: the Smart Safety Shoe designed to actively protect the wearer from workplace hazards. In several stages, the initial prototype was gradually refined. The final phase of this project was initiated in 2022, with a student specialising in Design For Interaction converting the prototype into a physical, usable product.

The time has come for the final touches. We are gearing up to produce this shoe of the future. We expect to launch the Smart Safety Shoe by the end of 2025.