Sportswear brand Under Armour filed a patent application this week for a new “smart” shoe that’s able to take a wearer’s blood pressure and help them recover faster from a workout.
The patent application, which has been live since June 25, describes two possible iterations of the sneakers, the Baltimore Business Journal reported. One would connect to a Fitbit-like device to take an athlete’s blood pressure, then adjust its sole to improve blood flow through the athlete’s leg. In its application Under Armour said many athletes suffer from poor circulation in their feet after a strenuous workout, and this would mitigate that discomfort.
The second proposed model involves a BP detector that would be implanted in the bottom of the shoe.
This is just the latest in a series of recent smart clothing innovations from Under Armour, including its HOVR running shoes, which launched last year and feature a sensor that enables them to track a runner’s stride length, cadence, pace and distance.
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.