Recent Innovations in Footwear Sensors: Role of Smart Footwear in Healthcare -- A Survey

TL;DR

This survey reviews recent advancements in smart footwear technology, emphasizing health monitoring, assistive features, and deep learning applications, while discussing current challenges and future potential in healthcare.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent innovations in smart shoe sensors, highlighting integration of sensors, energy harvesting, and deep learning for health and assistive applications.

Findings

Smart shoes enable personalized health monitoring and assistive functions.

Deep learning enhances data analysis in smart footwear.

Current challenges include construction complexity and high costs.

Abstract

Smart shoes have ushered in a new era of personalised health monitoring and assistive technology. The shoe leverages technologies such as Bluetooth for data collection and wireless transmission and incorporates features such as GPS tracking, obstacle detection, and fitness tracking. This article provides an overview of the current state of smart shoe technology, highlighting the integration of advanced sensors for health monitoring, energy harvesting, assistive features for the visually impaired, and deep learning for data analysis. The study discusses the potential of smart footwear in medical applications, particularly for patients with diabetes, and the ongoing research in this field. Current footwear challenges are also discussed, including complex construction, poor fit, comfort, and high cost.