Lumen
Mar-May 2015
Tags: IoT, Wearables
Toolkits: Phonegap, Node.js, Bluetooth LE, Bio Sensing
Role: UX design, Soft circuitry, Fabrication, PCB
Team members: David Tracy, Abhishek
Lumens are smart shoes that uses bluetooth LE to communicate with smart phones, to provide customization and notification.
The shoe began as a speculative project for a narcissistic technophile as a means to monitor and ultimately reduce their inactivity, because time spent inactive is time spent out of the spotlight. It was designed around a 3D scan of our user’s foot.
It consists of a thirty-three flexible PCB circuits sandwiched between a cast silicone rubber outer shell and a neoprene inner shell. A Bluetooth LE radio, microcontroller, and three vibration motors are embeded in the sole of the shoe. The sole is 3D printed with flexible PLA, and infilled with silicone rubber.
Each triangular panel has a custom circuit board beneath it with surface mount neo-pixel LEDs daisy-chained together. The truncated pyramid was chosen for its light refracting properties; the thicker material at the center of the panel diffuses the light more evenly than the thinner portions.
System Diagram
Wireframes
