New GPS Technology Can Locate People and Keep Kids Safe

GPS has been in use among the general public for several years, and is most notably used in cell phones and cars. While the technology is said to help find your missing car, it could now be used to find missing people. Isaac Daniel has invented a sneaker that can be used for all sorts of purposes, but the idea came to Daniel after a scare with loosing his son. In 2002, Daniel was out of town when he got the phone call that his son was missing from school. After quickly flying from Atlanta to New York, it was explained to him that it was a misunderstanding, and that his son was fine. But the incident made him realize that a GPS locater could have easily solved the mystery, and saved a lot of stress. When asked what he calls his invention, he says that it is “Peace of mind. We call it a second eye watching over you.” He wears his shoe invention on his morning run, and has tested them on long distance trips, and traced himself to the precise building he was in.

The GPS shoes can be extremely useful for emergencies, but is not really intended to find out if your child is really going where they say, or if you are concerned with your spouse’s whereabouts. It is designed to alert the authorities when it is activated, which can be done by either pressing a button located on the shoe, or remotely by calling the monitoring service, and giving the operators the correct password. This will work to help find a lost or kidnapped child, traveling teens, hikers on mountain climbing expeditions, or Alzheimer’s patients who tend to wander. If any activity is reported to the authorities in the even of a non-emergency, the wearer of the shoes will incur all law enforcement costs, explains Daniel.

The main difference between the sneakers bearing the GPS locator chip and other inventions such as GPS bracelets, watches, wristbands, or phones, would be that shoes just aren’t as easy to lose. The cost of the monitoring service, which provides 24-hour service, is less than twenty dollars a month, which is a small price to pay if you’ve got a wanderer that causes you constant worry.

The original manufacturing count is just 1000 pairs of the limited edition running shoe style, with two silver (activate and deactivate) buttons near the shoelaces. Daniel says there is already 750 pairs ordered. The GPS shoe invention has already peaked interest with makers of military boots, and there is talk of them being used in Colombia and Ecuador. If the idea takes off, it could put a damper on the total number of missing people world-wide.

The problem is, overcoming the cool-factor, says Lee Diercks, managing director of New Jersey-based Clear Thinking Group, an advisory firm for retailers. While the military might be able to successfully implement the technology into their already rugged look, teens and young kids may not find the available styles very compatible with their fashionable attire!

More information about inventor Isaac Daniel and his company Fele Footwear.