Universole – Backerjack

Save your swing with the IOFIT connected golf shoes

The pursuit of the perfect swing on the green is the goal of every budding golfer out there. Countless hours are spent chasing it, usually with an expensive coach nearby. But while the team behind the IOFIT can’t compete with the value a coach provides, it sure can help.

The company’s self-titled IOFIT connected golf shoes is its attempt. In creating lightweight, breathable golf shoes equipped with waterproof pressure sensors, users wearing them can track balance and weight shift while taking a swing. Bluetooth connectivity pushes this data to IOFIT’s iOS and Android companion app to provide real-time feedback, summarizing a user’s statistics and providing actionable insights to improve their game.

Universole steps up to measuring pressure tracking in your shoes

For most readers of this site, it will have been decades since learning to walk, and most would probably consider it a skill that they’ve mastered. UniverSole is a smart shoe insole that houses several pressure sensors to point out the ways in which one can improve their walking, running, or sitting to prevent strains or injuries. The sensors in UniverSole are paper-thin, and the feel of the insole is comfortable and familiar, preventing users from walking differently while using the product. Also because the design is so thin, UniverSole fits virtually every kind of shoe available for sale.

By acting as the point of contact for tracking, UniverSole offers more accurate data than a wrist-worn activity tracker, while also not advertising to the world that you use a gadget for fitness. With a Bluetooth 4.0 module built right in, data about weight balance, stride, and distance are all tracked and transmitted immediately to any smartphone or tablet.

UniverSole is looking to collect $75,000 in donations to finalize moldings and start production. Backers can run out and get a pair for $200 in November 2015. It’s a great way to discreetly track fitness data, and is a great addition to the new wave of sole trackers we’ve seen recently, joining similar products like the runScribe that tracks while you go.