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Tech

A Q&A with the Woman Who Designed Her Own 'Hacker Heels'

SexyCyborg’s Wu Ying shoes combine femme fashion with some clever tech.
Rachel Pick
New York, US
Photo: SexyCyborg

It might be the most badass real-world femme fatale thing I've seen in a long time: a pair of 3D printed platform shoes with a sliding compartment containing a set of hacker tools.

Built by Reddit user SexyCyborg, the Wu Ying shoes ("shadowless" in Chinese) contain a USB keystroke recorder, a wireless router, a retractable Ethernet cable, a shim for opening padlocks, and a set of lockpicks. Equally impressive is that the shoes remain wearable even after the compartment has been removed, at least for someone of comparable weight.

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Photo: SexyCyborg

SexyCyborg has been experimenting with wearable tech for a while, starting with programmable LED shoes and a micro-mini LED skirt. Every skill in her arsenal is self-taught.

Reading the detailed Imgur walkthrough of how she built her most impressive project yet, I was struck by her confident and no-nonsense attitude. SexyCyborg receives a lot of online flak for her appearance (which is striking for a number of self-evident reasons) but is refreshingly unapologetic about using her femininity as part of her aesthetic.

Since SexyCyborg is based in Shenzhen, China, I spoke with her via email to find out more about her design process.

MOTHERBOARD: So, where did the idea for the hacker heels come from?

SexyCyborg: After I did the LED skirt I wanted to try another LED wearable. I decided on platform heels and made these. I had to import a pair of platform heels from the US with a cutout to put objects in the front platform. This was a bit expensive and the results less than satisfactory.

Since my shoes are pretty much a big chunk of plastic I got the idea to 3D print the next pair. While designing it I started playing around incorporating drawers and storage space. My concern is since most women's clothing does not have pockets, if we lose our handbags or they get stolen it's really a huge problem. Shoes—particularly chunky platform style shoes that many women in China wear to appear taller—have a lot of unused space that's not taken advantage of.

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SexyCyborg's LED heels. Photo: SexyCyborg

Incorporating the hacker tools was not really a serious build. Just a proof of concept and a bit of fun. One of the Cyberpunk forum posters had complained that LEDs were not really cyberpunk, "hackers were." So it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek response to that. Also some inspiration from Mr. Robot and a passing interest in pen-testing.

Do you have a background in cybersecurity or engineering? What's your day job?

I'm a self-taught web developer. I mostly use the Ruby on Rails framework, although I've been making some (very slow) progress moving to Javascript frameworks. Teaching myself to code took a lot of the mystery out of being technical, so anything I need to do I just read online tutorials.

I'm not particularly skilled, much of the point I try to make with my projects is that the tools that are available now just make these tasks vastly more accessible than they have been in the past.

A lot of the doubt associated with my projects is a bit like people used [to] thinking about trees being cut down by burly men with axes dismissing the idea of a women cutting down trees because they are unaware that chainsaws have been invented.

Photo: SexyCyborg

What was the process of building the shoes like? Did you run into any logistical issues you had to work through?

Nothing too bad. I had to 3D print a few sections to test and make sure the drawer was not too tight or too loose. The early prints were taking 20+ hours so I reduced the printer resolution to .3mm leading to the current kind of grainy appearance.

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People new to 3D printing usually want things to appear smooth and will talk about vapor smoothing, etc., but within the actual 3D printing community a little grain is not considered a bad thing. You get used to the aesthetic. Wood has grain, not everything needs to be a glossy blob.

What are some other projects you've worked on?

I just started doing hardware projects in June so it's all very new to me. Just the LED skirt, LED shoes, the Wu Ying shoes, the 3D scan of myself, a small cable guide. Still I enjoy making things, taking photographs with them, hearing feedback—particularly from other women with questions about how to get started. So I think it's something I'll keep doing.

Any ideas for a next project?

I'm publishing a CAD file of the Wu Ying shoes without the drawer that's a bit easier for women to resize and work with. The model I printed of it is actually 3D printed wood, sanded and stained like real wood.

After that I have a few ideas for 3D printable projects for children and young women that I'd like to do. Then maybe something using the Raspberry Pi. It's a good learning platform and I'd like to come up with a reason for girls to take an interest in it.

Photo: SexyCyborg

I noticed your "Edit" section on the Imgur walkthrough addressing the comments you usually get from Redditors about your appearance. Do you get a lot of negative comments from men?

The negativity seems to be about evenly divided between men and women. There's a small but vocal group of people who can't get past my weight issues, body modification choices and eccentric clothing. If they don't like how I look that's their problem.

I prefer to focus on the positive feedback I get, which once people see the result of what I've [been] doing is generally very supportive. Playing "Bait and Switch" with boobs/"Any Woman can be Technical" may be a dirty trick, but it's worked so far to get the message to an audience that would have little interest otherwise and is good fun.