Wouldn’t it be awesome if you didn’t have to run out and buy a pair of shoes that match your outfit? Better yet, wouldn’t it be awesome if you could change the color and design on your sneakers with just the click of a button? Well, +rehabstudio, a UK-based company that prototypes and builds digital marketing campaigns and products thought so — which is why they conceptualized Shift Sneakers: a new kind of wearable technology. The company is tinkering with sneakers that will transform shoe shopping in such a way that if you buy one pair of sneakers, you’re actually buying hundreds. The way Creative Technology sees it, the Shift Sneaker will be comprised of conductive and reactive textiles so that the body of the shoe can react and transform using phase change fibers and shape-memory materials that enable them to change easily between selected designs. Shift Sneakers’ meta materials will manipulate fabric tissue in order to bend light particles ad even adapt to external variables like temperature.
The sneakers’ membranes will also be woven with conductive threads that can send electrical signals that react to human touch, and a flexible mini-LED display will be the actual surface that your colors and designs would be projected on. Shift Sneaker’s creators want users to “shift” between between different sneaker designs using a mobile app that would offer new designs to browse through and implement at the touch of a button. “The store will act as an open-source application platform where anyone can easily design, develop and upload their own packs, that can then be downloaded by all Shift Sneaker wearers,” according to Shift Sneaker’s website. Related: Get a sneakerhead: how to use the internet to buy the rarest sneakers The virtual sneaker store would even offer different sync settings so wearers can sync designs with friends and significant others, get glow-in-the dark designs for nighttime running and biking, or just look totally awesome in a flash.
Unfortunately all of this is merely conceptual at this point, but Creative Technology was inspired by wearable technology that already exists, like Cutecircuit’s electronic-light clothing and thermochromic fabrics that change colors based on chemical reactions — so despite sounding fairly lofty and far-fetched, Shift Sneakers are definitely a possibility. Keep your fingers crossed and we might see these suckers at Payless in a few years.NEWSTeen hit with Taser while waiting for Air Jordans A 17-year-old says she was hit with a Taser at The Woodlands Mall after people crowded an entrance hoping to score coveted new Air Jordans Chaotic crowds continued Sunday morning searching for a chance to get the coveted new Air Jordans. At the Woodlands Mall around 9 a.m., witnesses said a Montgomery County Sheriff's deputy fired a Taser at a 17-year-old girl, caught in the commotion. They described the move as "excessive" and said the deputy used the Taser as a "scare tactic" to get people back in a formal line."
It got rowdy about some shoes. They asked us to back up. We easily backed up and the girl turned around. He pulled out his Taser and shot her," said witness Carlos Harrell.Eyewitness News spoke with the Coldspring High School student. Family did not want her identified.She said all of a sudden heard what sounded like a firecracker, felt a pulse, and started running. In a photo she provided to ABC13, she said the Taser's prong ended up in her backside. She also said she was simply trying to move away when, without warning, the deputy fired the weapon. "When I turned around I heard this pop noise and the next thing you know there was a Taser inside my butt," she said. "My sister came behind me and said, 'you've been tased you've been tased' and she grabbed me," she said. "Tears just crying out my eyes. I'm just like, 'Oh my God.'"Cellphone video provided by witnesses show a rowdy situation. You can hear one person yell, "They hit her in the butt." Family said paramedics checked the 17-year-old on-scene.
They also took here to a Memorial Hermann to be evaluated after the incident. The young woman's mother said displaying Tasers were too much and that deputies "could have found a better way" to control the crowd. Lt. Brady Fitzgerald with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded to our request about the use of force. Lt. Fitzgerald confirmed a Taser was used Sunday morning. He said around 4 a.m. the Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from the Woodlands Mall. Staff said there was an unruly crowd consisting of several hundred people, prompting the large presence of law enforcement.Per Sheriff Office policy, Lt. Fitzgerald could not comment or offer Eyewitness News specifics about the Taser. He stated as in customary every use of force incident, it is reviewed by the agency. Since it is an "active investigation," authorities with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office would not comment about where the Taser was appropriate. Crowds were out Sunday morning for tickets to purchase the Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers.
The sneakers cost about $200 and will be released next Saturday. But in order to get the sneakers then, shoppers had to line up Sunday.By definition, Judah Adunbi’s job is to prevent British police officers from using unnecessary force. Adunbi is a founding member of the Independent Advisory Group, and works with officers to prevent discrimination. Despite his day job, he recently found himself the victim of such discrimination at the hands of two British officers. Adunbi was mistaken for a robbery suspect while out walking his dog, and the mistake led to a heated confrontation with two police officers. When Adunbi refused to give his name, he was accused of holding his keys in a threatening manner. The situation escalated, as the officers continually told Adunbi to remain calm, despite him placing his hands above his head. The entire incident was filmed by one of Adunbi’s neighbors, who can be heard admonishing the arresting officers.“He’s going to his house,” Adunbi’s neighbor said.
“He’s got his keys in his hand. How do you take that as a threat? He’s one of my neighbors. He’s a lovely guy.”The video shows one of the officers subduing Adunbi with a Taser and Adunbi lying limp on the ground as his neighbor, dog, and the two officers surround him. While the 63-year-old was arrested on the spot for assaulting a constable in the execution of duty and using threatening behavior, the charges were later dropped.“It's a little distasteful...To know that one of the [founding] members of the Independent Advisory Group, which was created some years ago to improve the relationship between the Afro-Caribbean community and the constabulary, and to be treated like this, it’s difficult,” Adunbi told the Guardian.According to data obtained by the Washington Post, officers in Britain and Wales shot their firearms less than 10 times a year between 2004 and 2013. The use of lethal force against unarmed African-Americans in the U.S. has become a heated topic in recent years, with high profile incidents involving Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, and others.