If you have no sense of direction, these vibrating running shoes may be the answer.

Have you had this happen before? You’re mapping a long run out before you go. You want your route to include inspiring views, little traffic, no hills, and the necessary distance. You’ve got it all planned out, until of course you miss a turn and end up climbing a monster hill and jogging through bumper to bumper traffic.

The Indian tech firm Lechal is working on a project that merges insertable footbeds with your smartphone to create smart running shoes. These futuristic slippers track the number of steps you take and help you navigate a path between two points in a city by buzzing left or right to indicate the direction to turn (as directed by Google Maps).

“The shoes are a natural extension of the human body,” said Krispian Lawrence, 30, co-founder and chief executive officer of the company, reported on WSJ.com. “You will leave your house without your watch or wristband, but you will never leave your house without your shoes.”

It’s an exciting idea that could go either way depending on its sensitivity. If the vibration is subtle it could be a cool tool but if my feet feel like they’ve been continually vibrating for 20 miles, I’m pretty sure I’ll trash them like much of the other runner tech gear I’ve disposed of in the past. The video is a bit much as well. Pretty sure these vibrating shoes aren’t gonna get you a date. But nonetheless, it’s a neat concept.

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Types of running shoes have gone from skinny to fat. Barefoot runners, your time in the sun seems to have passed. The newest types of running shoes are called “maximal cushioning” and according to The Washington Post, “The shoes look like modern, colorful versions of your grandmother’s orthopedic footwear.”

Hoka One One is the leader of the fat-soled running gear trend but other brands including New Balance, Brooks, Vasque, and Altra have also come out with their own versions. The shoes first started to be manufactured in 2010 but they’ve recently become popular amongst marathoners and the like.

“Runners get hurt just as much as they ever did, and take just as much time off to recover… One could make the argument that [in the past 30 years] we really haven’t moved the ball down the road at all,” Jim Van Dine, the company’s president said to The Washington Post.

Barefoot running shoes caught some slack last year when some of their claims were called into question. In fact, the trendsetting barefoot running shoe, Vibram had to pay $3.75 million in refunds to customers for making claims that they couldn’t back up.

According to the Boston Globe, “Vibram says it didn’t do anything wrong, but that it settled to nip the suit in the bud rather than watch it drag on and grow more expensive. Take that as you may; at the end of the day, Vibram is paying up and stripping mention of those health benefits from its advertising, at least for now.”

But either way, barefoot running shoes seemed to have deflated a bit, replaced by soles so big it would seem difficult to lift your foot. But they do look comfortable.

Jon Teipen, Brooks senior product line manager, said to The Washington Post, “the reality is that most people weren’t going to try to run barefoot… The majority of the market still likes cushion, still likes support, still likes a more substantial shoe. But the industry wasn’t talking to them.”

What types of running shoes work best for you?

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