These Smart Shoes Work With Google Maps To Make Sure You Never Get Lost Again

Thanks to Google Maps and other mapping and navigation apps, it's much easier to find your way around an unfamiliar area without getting lost.

However, in order to see where you're going, you need to continuously glance down at your phone rather than paying attention to your surroundings.

Indian startup Ducere Technologies Pvt. wants to change that with its Lechal smart shoes, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Bluetooth-enabled shoes look like a slick pair of running sneakers, but they're capable of buzzing to let you know which direction you should turn.

The shoes integrate with Google Maps, and will buzz your left or right foot depending on which way you need to go to reach your destination.

The name of the product - Lechal - means "take me along" in Hindi. The idea was originally developed as a means of helping the visually impaired travel more easily, the Journal reports.

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Ducere Technologies' Lechal shoes are one of several smart footwear products to emerge into the market recently. Some of these other gadgets, however, are more focused on health and fitness while the Lechals' navigational capabilities offer a more broad use case.

The Sensoria Smart Socks, for example, are embedded with sensors that can give you specific information about how your foot moves and where you're putting the most pressure. The Lechal shoes will come in red or black and will sell for between $100 and $150 in select stores. You can choose to purchase a pair of shoes or just the vibrating insoles, which the company's website claims will fit most shoes. The Lechal smart shoes are already available for pre-order via the product's website here.