Update - October 2016

[Old Drifter 1]

I'm excited for the app release so we get a chance to really give some feedback. From what I can see so far the interface seems straight forward and easy to figure out, I like that. Practicality comes first, but I wouldn't mind seeing different interchangeable themes for that app itself at some point. 

Keep on rockin Shiftwear!

[Dave-SW 23]

On 10/22/2016 at 5:11 PM, ShawnTXDFW said:

You know this might be SLIGHTLY off topic but I'm wondering if you guys will also sell cleaning supplies for the shoes. I went to the mall and found this shoe cleaner in which I'd be hesitant to use but it makes sure the shoes stay nice and white (or whatever color you choose) without doing any damage to the shoe. I just want to be one step ahead of the game because I want to make sure all 3 of my pairs stay in superb condition. I'm not big on owning nice shoes so I'm kind of new as to learning how to take care of them. And I need pointers so any advice would be greatly appreciated from any shoe nerds on here. I realize that we need to focus on getting our shoes first before we even think about cleaning supplies but as previous stated, just need some advice. Trying to stay ahead!

These will be expensive sneakers so to ensure longevity they will feature stain, dirt and oil resistance.

[KevinFromm-SW 0]

On 10/22/2016 at 3:48 PM, DrewsGFX said:

I'm no expert but, they 'do' only show one design on the shoe on all the pictures with it, so I'm pretty sure the gray dots on the back are simply a part of the design. 

Yes DrewsGFX, the grey dots are in fact part of the example design. We will have a patch of leather dividing the dual displays. The displays will be on both sides and this patch helps to secure them in place.

[NJneering 6]

On 10/21/2016 at 7:52 PM, DrewsGFX said:

Just curious, around when can we expect info about battery life/capacity and final feature list? Even if you can't give a highly accurate date, can you at least give a time frame? 2 weeks? A month? Thanks!

As far as tech specs I can tell you a few things:

Battery life is something that's usually pinned down later on in the design phase. It really comes down to 1. How much space we can afford to a battery and 2. How and how much the system will be used, on average. Once these things are measured, we will have a definitive answer for you. Right now, a realistic battery life goal is 12 hour (minimum) with any technology that we intend to use.

The platform is still constantly changing and updating because of the technological requirements of integrating a flexible, durable, and power efficient display, but we have made huge strides over the past few months. I will provide tech updates as frequently as I can going forward, but I will not be able to provide a full feature list until we are ready for launch. Stay tuned for the engineering update later this week. 

[ShawnTXDFW 9]

6 minutes ago, KevinFromm-SW said:

Yes DrewsGFX, the grey dots are in fact part of the example design. We will have a patch of leather dividing the dual displays. The displays will be on both sides and this patch helps to secure them in place.

That does kind of suck in a way doesn't it? I'm not one to be picky but I thought the whole shoe was supposed to be a screen practically linked between the two screens? Maybe it had to be part of the design change. Since obviously I couldn't afford the shoe with the screen throughout the whole shoe, I went for the other three! And in ways I don't feel bad about it. Even based on your website (as of right now anyway) it still shows the screens being linked and not separated. Hrmmm. I'm still super excited about this shoe and can't wait to see what the prototype will look like!? Still hopefully on for this week I hope?

-Shawn

[George-SW 51]

@ShawnTXDFW Yes - unfortunately it proved a really difficult task to have the screen folded the whole way round the shoe as we originally envisioned, and so this is something we're still experimenting with while we get the pre-orders out to market. Right now it's dual displays, but we'll hopefully have one continuous display in the future.

We're on track for the engineering update this week from our engineering guru Nick @NJneering as well

[ShawnTXDFW 9]

5 minutes ago, George-SW said:

@ShawnTXDFW Yes - unfortunately it proved a really difficult task to have the screen folded the whole way round the shoe as we originally envisioned, and so this is something we're still experimenting with while we get the pre-orders out to market. Right now it's dual displays, but we'll hopefully have one continuous display in the future.

We're on track for the engineering update this week from our engineering guru Nick @NJneering as well

Ok. Sweet! Well I'd love to buy one with one continuous display in the future. Thats what I was hoping for but I understand obstacles that have to be overcome to make the shoes possible. Just hope I can afford one at the time. 

[onabroomstick 4]

On 10/21/2016 at 6:49 AM, Xela said:

Thank you SO MUCH for giving us actual proof you guys are not going to scam all of your backers. 

The pictures of the app are not proof of anything regarding the shoe. As I've mentioned in another post, the technical feasibility of this shoe is questionable, and yet no information regarding the tech has been put forward by Shiftwear.

Much larger companies have tried making flexible, full-color, robust 'E-paper', all to little or no avail. For example, Qualcomm poured $3.5 billion USD into their Mirasol display, and then quietly abandoned it due to problems with cost-to-market. Judging by Shiftwear's Indigogo campaign, these guys do not have 0.1% of this type of funding, and yet they are promising to deliver a product by the end of the year.

Sorry to pour water on this folks, but this is a case of seeing-is-believing, and while the enthusiasm shown for the product is commendable, the tech just doesn't exist yet. And these guys don't have the money to develop it.

[ShawnTXDFW 9]

All though off topic I ran across this video on my FB feed. These displays are flexible but I'm unsure of pricing. Isn't this more or less what the ShiftWear team is looking for?

[onabroomstick 4]

13 hours ago, ShawnTXDFW said:

All though off topic I ran across this video on my FB feed. These displays are flexible but I'm unsure of pricing. Isn't this more or less what the ShiftWear team is looking for?

Shawn, this is the type of tech that has people excited about the possibilities of wearables. But if you pay close attention to the video, you'll see the screen is highly protected by the 'snapping' action of segments/links as the screen is manipulated. The reason for this is flexible TFT backplanes are fragile, and cannot be folded.

A shoe, on the other hand, will go through thousands of flexes over the course of a few hours, and there are a host of fold-points on a shoe that are subject to repeated stress. 'Flexible' displays like what LG have demonstrated are not robust enough to handle being folded, let alone the rugged treatment that the surface of a shoe is exposed to.

Shiftwear do not have the money to develop this tech independently, and they certainly do not have the clout to obtain the tech from a bigger player e.g., Samsung, LG, Qualcomm, whoever else is developing flex screens. Given that the big boys have yet to release fully flexible and robust displays, it's pretty much guaranteed that Shiftwear will not be first-to-market (a polite way of saying they will not deliver on this product).

[ShawnTXDFW 9]

Update tomorrow? I'm ready for the update by Nick!

[DrewsGFX 2]

So can we expect the update sometime later today? Or does it need to be postponed? I'm sure the SW Team is very aware this is the update everyone's been waiting for. Not sure how people will feel postponing it. Thanks in advanced. 

[ShawnTXDFW 9]

Still no update. Whys it being pushed for?

[George-SW 51]

16 hours ago, ShawnTXDFW said:

Still no update. Whys it being pushed for?

We're just finalizing the update together now and it'll be with you shortly

[Marius 1]

Dear Shiftwear,

Is it unlikely that you will be reaching your original goal of shipping out the shoes this fall/winter? What does your timeline currently look like. When can backers expect to receive the shoes?

 

all the best,

Oslo

Edited Monday at 6:58 PM by Marius

[hephisteles 3]

On 26/10/2016 at 3:34 PM, ShawnTXDFW said:

All though off topic I ran across this video on my FB feed. These displays are flexible but I'm unsure of pricing. Isn't this more or less what the ShiftWear team is looking for?

that's a concept from NOKIA called MORPH