Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek and Chinese shoe manufacturer 361 have teamed up to create a pair of sneakers that will help parents make sure they don't lose track of their children.
The footwear, called the MediaTek 361 smart shoes, debuted at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, CNET's Rick Trenholm said. Features include a MediaTek Aster processor with 4MB of RAM and a GPS chip, which sends data about the wearer's location to an app in the parent's phone to let them know where their kids are.
Parents will have the option to add extra features to the app, such as geoboundaries, which alert the parent whenever their kid goes out of a preset area.
The sneakers come with a chunky design and vibrant colours, as they are being marketed for very small children.
The 520mAh battery will last a day or two since the chip doesn't use a lot of power, CBS News reported. The shoes come with an inducting charging pad that lets users recharge the battery wirelessly.
Trenholm said the shoes bring up several concerns about privacy and the risk of other people being able to access kids' location data, more for older children than for younger ones that need to be looked after all the time. However, these sneakers do provide a better way for the GPS chip to always stay on the kid, as it is easier for kids to lose a phone or a wristband.
MediaTek will begin selling the smart sneakers in China next month for 500 yuan ($80), with no plans on making them available in the rest of the world.
