If regular human feet already give you the ick, these AI-generated images of what our future trotters might look like might just push you over the edge.
In just a century, our feet just could be in the next, er, stage of evolution, with extra long toes, especially soft soles and covered in even more sweat – well, that’s according to SportsDirect’s work with futurist Tom Cheesewright anyway.
Using artificial intelligence to predict what kind of shoes we might wear in the future, the team first had to imagine what might happen to our feet.
First of all, Cheesewright explained why are soles are going to become extra cushion-y.
He said: “We don’t spend much time in bare feet now, and when we do it tends to indoors in very safe environments.
“Nowadays, we tend to wear very soft socks and increasingly comfortable and well-fitting shoes, so the thick protective skin of our soles might start to thin, making our feet become even more sensitive.”
Then, he got onto the matter of the big toe. Brace yourself – it’s probably going to get even larger.
Cheesewright said: “One of the last parts of the human foot to evolve was the larger, stiffer, big toe.
“It gives humans a performance advantage over our primate ancestors, allowing us to run faster but it comes at a cost: we can’t grasp things with our feet so easily.
“It doesn’t seem likely that we will return to tree-dwelling any time soon, so it’s unlikely this adaptation will reverse.”
Instead, we’re expected to become even more dependent on running for staying healthy, looking good and maintaining fitness – which all results in “adaptations that give us longer toes for better performance.”
Meanwhile, it’s not looking good for people who already have a significant sweat problem with their tootsies.
Cheesewright explained: “Sweat glands release moisture as part of the process that controls your body temperature, and they are most numerous on your feet.
“As temperatures rise, humans will need a variety of adaptations to help them regulate their temperature. Increasing the number and efficiency of our sweat glands would be one solution, leading to some very sweaty feet!”
Another reason to act on the climate crisis then.
But, even if the idea of these future feet upsets you, there is another prediction –the futurist also suggested that our feet might get smaller.
Cheesewright suggested that changes in our environment and diet will cause us all to decline in size – and smaller people don’t need big feet.
“If we get smaller, we’ll likely see the average shoe size reduce by two or three sizes in line with the rest of our bodies,” he said.
Still, we’re not sure the “feet pic” industry will still be booming if these predictions comes true...