From: Discover - July, 2000 - page 106

"Ok, I just booted up my shoes, " says Joseph Paradiso, physicist and music
nut. He's wearing a pair of heavily modified Nikes that give voice to every
movement of his feet. Thunk, thunk, thunk, wheeee-owwww, sing the sneakers in
his lab. Paradiso is not impressed, "I'm walking now, so it's kind of boring.
You need a dancer to show them off, I'm not a dancer, but I can give you a
demo." Lo, the dance of the physicist begins: A kick, and the sneakers spit
the sound of a gunshot. An ankle tilt conjures a high-pitched vibrato. When
Paradiso, an excitable, burly 44-year-old prof, rises to his toes, cymbals
appear to crash. So goes this odd symphony of synthesized sound. As a
research scientist in MIT's Media Lab, Paradiso has constructed musical
carpets, digital batons for conductors and a chior for Penn & Teller that
waxes electronic when Teller flutters his hands. Paradiso's sneakers are his
newest, and perhaps his most delightful, entry into the realm of wearable
computers. The ability to gather real-time data on anatomical movement will
also be exploited by physical therapists, athletic trainers, footwear
designers, and doctors who study the balance and gait of elderly people as
well as those afflicted by foot problems. Dancers, who typically move to
someone else's music, have already been tickled by the notion of becoming
footwise composers. Mark Halm, called a "choreographer's choreographer" by
the New York Times, says that while wearing Pardiso's shoes, "I was in
heaven. Your're literally making music with your feet."  

http://www.media.mit.edu/resenv/shoes.html