British airline EasyJet has unveiled a smart shoe—"Sneakairs"—to help travelers navigate their way through unfamiliar cities.

The smart shoes are connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone app that uses the phone’s GPS to direct the wearer in the direction to walk by triggering small vibrating sensors within the shoe. The shoes are fitted with a device built with open-source hardware—a miniaturized Arduino clone—and an integrated Bluetooth module designed to use little power and resist interference that connects with the smartphone. A vibration motor is included that is similar to those used in smartphones.

EasyJet's "Sneakairs" direct travelers to their destination via vibrations in their shoes. Image credit: EasyJet.The devices have been programmed in Arduino sketch, a series of functions based on C/C++ programming languages. A plastic housing protects the electronics while maximizing the contact area to distribute the vibration throughout the shoe.

Google Maps and Google Maps Directions APIs were used as the basis to construct a pedestrian navigator that can detect via GPS position when the user is approaching an intersection and send a vibration signal to the corresponding shoe. The application runs in the background so users don't have to constantly mind the directions on their touchscreen.

Travelers begin by synchronizing their shoes with their smartphone and then choose a destination. If they need to turn left, the left shoe will vibrate. Two consecutive vibrations on both shoes mean that a turn has been missed. Three vibrations on both shoes indicate that the destination has been reached.