User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:18 am

Spoiler: Fitness Trackers are nothing new.

Got an old FitBit in your desk drawer, or an Apple Watch under the Xmas tree? I love the Apple Watch for tracking my cycling these days. But I had absolutely no idea this concept had been around since the 1980s.

With the Commodore 64! I present Exhibit A: The RS Computer Shoe from Puma

Advertisement transcribed for easier reading:
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Advertisement for the RS Computer Shoe from Puma

Serious runners know that it takes the latest technology to make a great running shoe. Heel stabilizers to control pronation. Midsoles that combine polyurethane and EVA to absorb shock. Biomechanical designs to increase stability.

But serious runners also know that it takes more than a great shoe to improve performance. It takes knowledge. Introducing the RS Computer Shoe from Puma.

The RS Computer Shoe not only incorporates the latest in footwear technology - including our unique Multiplex IV Midsole with durability and shock attenuation far superior to conventional midsoles - it combines it with computer technology. Creating a running shoe unlike any other.

The RS Computer Shoe has a custom-designed computer chip built into its heel. This computer chip records your run, the communicates the results to any Apple IIE, Commodore 64 or 128 or IBM PC computer. A software program included with the shoe automatically calculates your time, distance and calories expended. Then graphically compares them to past performances and future goals.

The RS Computer Shoe from Puma. It's the intelligent way to run.
(Advertisement shared by Daniel (Mufasa).)

Now how cool would it be to have such a device in modern day, that would work with our retro-computers?

This next image was pulled from an old review (aka PR re-print) out of the December 1986 issue of RUN Magazine (ironically named, as it was about Commodore computers not "running"), found and shared by Matthew Sparby.
DSG1KWLVQAAsMEK.jpg
You can never go too far with the uses you can find for computer chips. Puma's RS Computer Shoe has one built into its heel, which records your run, then communicates the results to your C-64. A program included with the shoe calculates your time, distance run and calories expended, then graphically compares them to past performances and future goals. Available for $199.95. Puma U.S.A., Inc...
Good lord! $400 (in today's dollars) for a shoe that might wear out in less than a year? Why they didn't simply sell the device so people could strap it to their legs I've no idea.

Here's what the bizarre cable interface looked like:
puma_rs_computer.jpg
Cable interface for the Puma RS Computer Shoe. Image from InCider Magazine #55 July 1987

Damn. I'd be willing to duct tape a cartridge to my thigh if that's what it would take to work with my C64! Wouldn't you?

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:24 pm

Easy fix (for someone smarter than me, that is) Bluetooth or WiFi sensor module with pedometer (or just use an app on your phone that reads sensor data) then a Bluetooth/WiFi to C64 adapter. There is a cool guy named Ricardo Quesada. I sold him my VIC-20 so he could test a version of his UniJoystiCle for it. If I recall his adapter uses bluetooth WiFi. He is definitely a sharp guy that could make something like this.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:48 pm

I wonder if anyone ever made a disk image of the original software? I've not tried to hunt that down yet. But it could always be recreated as well, of course (by someone smarter than me).
Screen Shot 2017-12-28 at 2.46.28 PM.png

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:33 pm

I would be surprised if it had been. The problem I see with these shows is the fact that shoes wear. So were you supposed to chuck the whole thing out and buy a new pair?





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