Smart,
then and now!

Herzogenaurach, Germany, 1986: A Swedish hair-metal band called “Europe” topped the charts with “The Final Countdown” and an 18-year-old Boris Becker beat Ivan Lendl to win Wimbledon for a second time.

Researchers at PUMA, however, were looking far into the future when they launched a running shoe with a tiny computer in its heel, in collaboration with Dr. Peter Cavanagh, a professor at the department of orthopaedics and sports medicine at the University of Washington.

The Running System (RS) Computer shoe was able to translate data enabling runners to compare past runs with future goals and become faster and more efficient.

Herzogenaurach, Germany, 32 years later: Replicating the original experience of the 1986 smart running shoe, PUMA launches the 2018 version of the RS Computer with new technology!

Just like the original shoe, the upgraded 2018 version has a custom-designed computer chip built into the heel that automatically records time, distance and calories burnt.

But while the 1986 RS Computer communicated the results once connected to any Apple Ile and Commodore 64 using a 16-pin cord, the new version only needs a cable to charge the shoe via a USB port.

The RS Computer is fitted with Bluetooth technology to connect to an Android or iOS smartphone. The RS-Computer Shoe App manages and processes the information about distance, time and calories burnt.

PUMA’s innovation team started from scratch when they developed the 2018 version, by meeting up with Dr. Peter Cavanagh. He helped them understand the historical meaning of the shoe and to fill blanks in the story behind the first wearable smart shoe.

At a time, when running was still called jogging, PUMA and Dr. Cavanagh revolutionized the way athletes were training opening unprecedented ways for them to improve quickly.

Thanks to our PUMA Archive, the innovation team could literally dive into the past and work with the original 1986 Computer shoe. The upgraded version does the same, but uses new technology. “We knew from the very beginning that we needed to connect the shoe to an APP,” explains Charles Johnson.

Connecting a shoe to an app was not completely new to the team since they did it before with the Autodisc.

Paying homage to the year the RS Computer originated, only 86 pairs will be available globally. Each pair has a number from 1 to 86 that appears on a woven label inside the tongue. You better be quick, the RS Computer will be sold from December 13, 2018 at Kith, on PUMA.com in the US and Japan and in PUMA Stores in Harajuku, Tokyo, Carnaby Street, London and Berlin.