I think it's time to revisit light-up shoe projects. Slap some LEDs or some EL-wire on those suckers and call the space-bound. I've already done lighting projects with tennis shoes and with high heels. But this time, it's going to be a little more industrial looking.
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| I might just add some glowing EL-wire panels to the boots and call it done, |
I might keep it simple and just use some simple EL-wire or maybe some EL-panels. That's certainly easy to do. But of curse I have grand ideas about controllable light shows like in the summer blockbuster movies. I have some spare microcontrollers and extra LEDs in the shop that are taunting me from their dusty shelf.
And new products like the sensor laden Circuit Playground and the Bluetooth or LORA Feather boards suddenly make real interactive and controllable light shows possible for a reasonable price. My previous projects were limited to a few pre-set, repetitive light sequences and simple pressure-switches.
I haven't done any real designs yet, not even a single sketch - so I don't have anything to show you for now. However, I've done acceleration projects and sound based projects with the Playground, and my Bluetooth skills are coming along nicely. If I combine these with my old Neopixel controller code I might have a good start on some off-world footwear.
I still needed to refresh my memory on how these things are done - so I went back and re-found some of my favorite inspirational projects and tutorials. This time I decided to take notes and make an easy to use collection of helpful links and I thought I would share them here..
Most of the tutorials and guides I knew of all revolve around either sneakers or high heels. You know, normal everyday footwear - not the stuff of exo-planet explorers. But it's all I could find, so here's a list of my favorites to get you started:.
Sneakers and Tennis-shoes
- Probably the classic tutorial is Becky Stern's Firewalker shoes from Adafruit. It's so good they did it twice, once with the Flora board and again with the smaller (and cheaper) Gemma board.
- https://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Up-Shoes-for-Adults/
- Another fun yet simple build, no Arduino required
- How about some simple to use EL-Wire sneakers
Heels
- Add some fantasy and LEDs to your heels here
- Classy and simple lifts plus LEDs
- Dorothy's Ruby slippers with a hi-tech twist
Above and Beyond
- Not only do they have LEDs, these heels feature R2D2
- Turn old sneakers into stomp activated combat-boots
- Blade Runner Platforms Sandals with layers of lights
- Stockings with sewable strands of LEDs
- Clear Acrylic Stage Platform Heels with LEDs or...
- Platform gogo boots with a projector
- Not shoes, but the fiber-optic poof is cool
- Or maybe some flowery LED clip-ons for your dancing shoes
Right now, I'm thinking some rack-mount headlights, some basic running lights and some sound reactive and acceleration reactive lights. Since these are boots, I can add some clunky control panels without destroying the lines of the shoe - big and clunky work well with boots.
If you have any ideas, images or tips to share for cosplay boots, please send them my way. I'll try to post up some progress pics soon.
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