This is a concept product that emerged from an internal company contest.
Started in 1991, the Denso contest lets employees pitch new ideas to ‘foster their creative and innovative design concepts’. The boss chooses 12 finalists to present at a swisho Japanese tech show.
One of the finalists at the last comp was the Ecology shoe, which has a small vacuum inside its very large, outer sole. At the heel is a small pedal connected to gears. Every step powers the vacuum motor, allowing it to suck up small pieces of debris. The dirt packs into in a small dust box about the size of a packet of Tic Tacs. It’s also inside the sole and can be emptied out.
These things aren’t available yet, but we can see a big future for them getting pie crumbs and bits of Kentucky Fried off the floor of the ute.
Let’s hope the idea kicks on.