Electric Cinderella Shoes – with built-in stun gun

Chun-Li 05-12-2006

The Electric Cinderella shoes idea began as part of Simona Brusa Pasque's thesis at the Interaction Design Institute in 2002 and was inspired by a beautiful woman who Simona interviewed for her thesis who wanted to be able to “intimidate her intimidators.” She wanted to be empowered without losing her femininity, to have the freedom to be sexy without fear. The shoes certainly achieve that, offering 100,000 volts of high fashion stun gun power which can be activated by a control on the matching necklace. The weapon is hidden and when the wearer taps on the matching necklace an electric spark is displayed in the transparent tip, warning the would-be assailant to back off. The weapon is designed for a one time use, in case of emergency, by breaking the tip of the shoe. The shoes have now evolved through several prototypes with earlier versions exhibited at SIGGRAPH 2005 in Los Angeles, at Nemo Museum, Amsterdam, and at Pica Museum in Perth, Australia with the latest incarnation getting its debut outing at the recent CTIA Wireless Fashion Show in Las Vegas. “I believe this type of capability is a dream of many women and it is my intention to bring it to market,” Simona told Gizmag. Simona is seeking "the right business partners."

“These shoes were designed to transform the self-perception of the wearer. The act of donning these shoes and the matching necklace is comparable to the ritual of wearing a mask; once they are on, they empower the wearer to express her hidden powerful personality.

The scenario of use is any day or event in which the wearer wants to feel in control, displaying power with irony and style and using it only in case of a real emergency.

I've designed many such wearables,” said Simona. “I have a full range of these wearable dream technologies waiting for the right opportunity.” Simona is seeking the right business partners to make this come true.

BonitaPajarita

In a weird sort-of creative way its a good idea. Crazy idea but quite smart and inventive.

However what I can see a problem with is security (airports, and other places). It can cause a scare or give others bad ideas. Appearing like a weapon of mass distruction. ( J/K-Ive always wanted to say that.)


When it comes to the business of selling scents, provocative names and outrageous packaging are standard marketing procedure, with Sean 'Diddy' Combs top-selling men's fragrance Unforgivable being the latest example. But now one perfume is not being seen as risqué but rather just risky — an apparently suspicious scent called Flowerbomb.

Packaged in glass bottle shaped like a hand grenade — it even has a little pull-tab like its lethal likeness — Flowerbomb "explodes into a bouquet of sensations" according its maker Victor et Rolf, a division of cosmetics giant L'Oreal.

Well, it appears Flowerbomb has created too much of a sensation, as last week it was pulled from duty free shops at the international airport in Oslo, Norway out of fear that trendy terrorists will be tempted to use it, airport officials said.

"We told the duty free operator that this kind of product was not wanted inside the airport," airport spokesman Jo Kobro said, according to a report in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper.

"The current regulations prohibit products in the shape of weapons and we think that this bottle could be used to scare passengers, just like a water gun could," Kobro said.

A L'Oréal official in Oslo was quoted as saying: "The product has been on sale everywhere in the world for at least two years and we've never heard of this kind of a reaction. I can understand that the bottle's design resembles a grenade but you only have to ask a question to find out what it contains."
As long the question isn't: "Is this perfume the bomb?"