Someone at Lenovo seems to be taking the movie Happy Feet quite literally.

The tech giant debuted a “smart shoes” concept on Thursday that can broadcast a wearer’s emotions on a small screen on the side. The shoes also can track your health data while you work out and give you walking directions, presumably on a connected mobile app.

Lenovo unveiled the footwear concept at their Lenovo Tech World event in Beijing to promote several new products and its Internet of Things strategy.

The company later said in a release that it wants to “build an ecosystem” with an open SDK (software development kit) platform across various areas, from the cloud to smart devices. Apparently, those “various areas” went as far as sneakers.

It’s unclear as to whether the shoes display emotions based on reading the wearer’s health data or if the user simply tells the shoes what to broadcast. Pictures from Android Central seem to indicate that users can draw on an app what they want displayed on the screen.

I struggle to imagine how these shoes will be able communicate the full range of human emotion to the (presumable) hordes of people who will be staring at your feet. Can a shoe convey melancholy? Apathy? This is what I want to know.

Lenovo has not yet responded to a Mashable request for comment.

Right now, the shoes are just a concept, so we don’t know if they’ll ever be put into production. However, the fitness tracking elements could be genuinely useful and while the emotion screen is gimmicky, it’s a cool gimmick.

People have bought silly footwear like Reebok Pumps, Heelys and barefoot shoes before, so there’s a good chance they’d opt for smart shoes, too.

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