Footwear

For a few years now, Inov-8 has been focusing in on graphene for its trail running shoes. Now it mixes a little nitrogen into the formula. The nitrogen-injected foam adds a light, soft ride and a response so reactive it almost feels like cheating.

Although there are now a number of systems that capture carbon emissions from smokestacks, many people may still wonder – what is that captured carbon used for? Well, Swiss company On is making shoes out of the stuff.

In most body-tracking VR systems, users have to wear sensors on various parts of their body, and/or they must remain within the confines of a base station. The Surplex system, however, is claimed to track body movements via a single pair of shoes.

Shoes with lots of cushioning may be nice and comfy, but they're not ideal for all situations. Wahu shoes are designed with that fact in mind, as their built-in pneumatic cushioning system can be switched between three different levels as needed.

Nothing stops a relaxing hike dead in its tracks quite like an ankle-crumpling misstep. The high-rising Terrein Ascent boot from German startup Terrein with its ankle-stabilizing piston is designed to make such incidents a problem of the past.

Nike looks to make shoe recycling simpler with its new ISPA Link, a glue-less sneaker that quickly separates into three pieces to presort itself for recycling. The company hopes to scale the program to make sneaker recycling a more universal concept.

Discarded shoes are a particularly bulky form of waste, with their molded rubber soles joined to often synthetic uppers. Blueview shoes reportedly offer a greener alternative, however, as they're claimed to completely biodegrade once thrown away.

Because diabetics often lack sensation in their feet, they may not shift foot pressure as needed, potentially leading to serious skin ulcers. A set of experimental insoles were created that problem in mind, as they shift the pressure for the wearer.

Graphene is featuring more and more heavily in footwear firm inov-8's catalog, this time around as part of foam cushioning in trail running shoes that is claimed to last twice as long as the industry standard.

Presently, in order to get a detailed analysis of their walking gait, patients have to travel to a clinic where they walk on a pressure-sensitive mat. That could be about to change, though, thanks to a new wearable system.

A team of scientists has been working on more environmentally friendly forms of footwear, and is now showing off a pair of algae-based flip flops that make the grade for commercial footwear, but degrade in the environment in just 16 weeks.

A lot of raw material goes into the making of footwear, so the less that can be used, the better for the environment. Nike's new Space Hippie shoes were designed with that in mind, as they're composed largely of recycled materials.