Beautiful shoes with patterns that can change from one day to the next…dynamic fashion at last! We have always felt that E-ink was an under-exploited material for fashion. It is reflective in nature, requires no energy to hold an image and only needs a small amount of energy to change an image. The displays are a little stiff, however, if you were to put them in something like a shoe that would not be a problem and that is exactly what Lithuania-based startup iShüu Technologies have have done. They have created an elegant high-heel shoe with an E-ink display that wraps around the foot, onto which numerous black and white patterns can be displayed via a Bluetooth device embedded in the ample sole.
To get the shoes to market iShüu have an Indiegogo campaign. This made 81% of its target ($50,000) but looks like the orders will go ahead.
The video shows the development of the original prototype, inlcuding the wireless connection.
The shoe, called volvorii, represents an important milestone in electronic fashion. You can now get a shoe that can change it’s pattern, with a passive display. This is very different from the the incorporation of LED’s which rather grab your eyes, here the effect is so much more subtle, so much closer to the effects we are used to with fabrics.
