Meet the Megalizer
Put on your dancing shoes - the Megalizer is here.
The above video is an advertisement spot for Adidas' new sneaker collection MEGA. To help promote this new line, Adidas enlisted the help of Didier Brun, head of creative technology at SIDLEE Paris. His goal was to create a system where people could use their shoes to create music as they dance - something Didier describes as a modern version of tap dancing.
The requirements for the Megalizer were as follows:
- The system needed to be wireless and worn by the dancer.
- The system could not have cables running out of the shoes.
- The system needed a range of 6-7 meters.
- Very low latency (< 30ms).
- Can handle up to six shoes at once.
- No fakes! The sound created has to come from the dancers' steps.
So Didier set out to create a system that did just that. Using a couple of force sensitive resistors, an Xbee Explorer, and a host of other SparkFun parts, he created a system that seamlessly integrates into Adidas' new line of the shoes. The results, as you can see from the above video, are very impressive.
To read more about the Megalizer project, visit this website. Didier also created a SparkFun wishlist in case you want to try your hand at building your own. Awesome work!
