From cameras and clothing to firmware and footwear, the days of cookie cutter are no longer. With the innovation that's spawned from the 3D printing, robotics, and manufacturing industries, products are now not only created for popular demand, rather, companies have begun to cater more and more to niche customer demand, allowing for an influx of bespoke, almost entirely customisable products to fill holes that we didn't know existed in our lives. Moreover, production is becoming more and more localised, and software is taking the place of bulky hardware features, enabling us to compress and manipulate products and technology to fit our individual needs to a luxurious degree.
My new footwear collection, <TT> by SAM Labs, is a prime example of an almost entirely customisable product, only made possible through the past decade's exponential advancements in production and tech.
A ménage à trois of customisable sneakers, leggings, and tech, <TT> by SAM Labs is an athleisure footwear collection that allows the wearer to 1) sport styles in up to seven different ways, 2) choose technological features they'd like to activate on their shoes and 3) even go on to learn the basics of computer programming from the technology used if they so choose.
Using SAM Labs' technology: SAM, the collection gives wearers customisable footwear that acts as a tentacle-like extension of your body. With preprogrammed IoT features ranging from GPS guidance to calling an emergency number or controlling your music (to name a few), the smart shoes are activated by moving your feet in certain ways, which trigger the SAM blocks.
SAM, a Bluetooth-based IoT system of physical hardware blocks and a software program, SAM Space, are essentially Lego® for adults - on steroids. Each 50p-sized block is either an input or an output, and can be programmed via the app by simply connecting dots together. When connecting SAM blocks either to each other or to elements of software within the app, the user can form smart circuits -- are known as 'features' within the <TT> collection styles.
In addition to the use of this compact technology, the <TT> collection also allows the wearer to don their shoes in various ways, depending on their mood. Ranging from just sneakers, to thigh high sneakers, sneakers and shorts, or full legging sneakers, each style comes with either a zipper or laceup topline that connects to the other parts of the style. So, not only can you decide what techy features you'd like to chop and change in and out of your shoes, but you can also chop and change the way you wear them or add more pieces to your collection -- now that is true customisation.
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To get in touch, learn more about the styles, or if you want to give me some funding while you're at it, feel free to email me at adrianaleahgoldenberg@gmail.com.
