Asics' new smart shoe will tell runners how to get faster and stronger

Asics at CES 2020
(Image credit: TechRadar)

Any prospective runners will be intrigued by Asics new concept: a smart shoe that can monitor exactly how you run and give real time feedback.

Unveiled at CES 2020, the protoype shoe is designed in partnership with Japanese sensor creator No New Folk Studios Inc, allowing the trainer to be infused with smart tech to let you know what your feet are doing when running... and how to make them better.

While smart soles are no new thing (nor are smart shoes, with sensors having been added to sneakers for years now) the combination of specific monitoring of things like power when kicking off could lead to greater insights into where you're weaker, enabling greater insights into what kind of training could work for you.

CES unveiling

The new smart sensors were shown off as a prototype at Asics' CES booth, where they were placed inside the new Evoride trainers, which were also revealed at CES.

They're using the Orphe Track sensor from No New Folk, which was first shown off at CES 2018 - this sensor essentially opens up all the motion data that spreads through your foot with each step and allows Asics to offer dedicated training insights. However, we're not sure what these will be yet.

The new Evoride shoes that are being used to demo the tech have greater energy recovery, which is The Big Thing in trainers at the moment to help runners get back as much power as possible from each stride (rather than it descending into the sidewalk and dissipating) and will be available from 7 February.

The new smart shoe from Asics is due to go on sale later in the year (Asics tells us that it will be a new model, not an upgraded Evoride, and price is still TBD) and we'll be grabbing a demo later in the week.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2020 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.
Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.