Haptic system for footwear article

1 . A haptic system for promoting identification of an alignment of a pair of footwear articles relative to at least one foot of a user, the haptic system comprising:

the pair of footwear articles comprising a first footwear article and a second footwear article structured to be worn on a first foot and a second foot, respectively, of the user, at least one of the first footwear article and the second footwear article comprising:

a footwear article body defining a footwear article interior portion therein that is configured for receiving one of the first foot or the second foot of the user via a foot opening; and

a collar provided along a top portion of the footwear article body so as to define at least a portion of an outer perimeter of the foot opening, the collar comprising an inner collar portion extending along an inner body portion of the footwear article body and an outer collar portion extending along an outer body portion of the footwear article body;

wherein the inner collar portion is defined by an inner collar portion configuration and the outer collar portion is defined by an outer collar portion configuration, wherein the outer collar portion configuration defines a sinusoidal profile comprising a plurality of serially arranged curvatures;

wherein an inner collar portion length is extending between a first inner collar portion and a second inner collar portion;

wherein a first inner collar portion configuration of the first inner collar portion at least partially corresponds to a first palm curvature of a first hand of the user and a second inner collar portion configuration of the second inner collar portion at least partially corresponds to a second palm curvature of a second hand of the user so as to generate a haptic response to the user to differentiate the first footwear article from the second footwear article upon the user engaging the inner collar portion of one of the first footwear article and the second footwear article;

wherein an inner collar portion height of the inner collar portion is different than an outer collar portion height of the outer collar portion; and

wherein the inner collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by an inner collar portion profile comprising a vertical curvature defined at least partially in an upward vertical direction from a first inner collar portion end and from a second inner collar end portion to an inner collar portion peak, the upward vertical direction extending from a sole of the footwear article body to the collar, such that the inner collar portion peak defined by a maximum height of the inner collar portion is arranged along the inner collar portion length between the first inner collar portion end and the second inner collar portion end, the inner collar portion peak being disposed at least substantially above a length axis of the inner collar portion as measured in the upward vertical direction,

wherein the maximum height of the inner collar portion is a maximum linear distance between the inner collar portion peak and a supporting surface upon which the sole of the footwear article is positioned,

wherein the length axis is an imaginary line extending linearly between the first inner collar portion end and the second inner collar portion end.

2 . The haptic system of claim 1 , wherein the inner collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by:

the inner collar portion length extending between the first inner collar portion end provided at a front side of the top portion of the footwear article body and the second inner collar portion end provided at a rear side of the top portion of the footwear article body, as measured along the length axis extending linearly therebetween.

3 . The haptic system of claim 2 , wherein the vertical curvature of the inner collar portion profile at least partially corresponds to a palm curvature of a hand of the user.

4 . The haptic system of claim 3 , wherein the inner collar portion profile comprises a radius of curvature between 30.0 mm and 300.0 mm.

5 . The haptic system of claim 3 , wherein an outer collar portion profile comprises an at least substantially flat configuration.

6 . The haptic system of claim 3 , wherein an outer collar portion profile comprises a second vertical curvature defined at least partially in a downward vertical direction such that an outer collar portion depth defined by a minimum height of the outer collar portion is arranged along an outer collar portion length between a first outer collar portion end and a second outer collar portion end, the outer collar portion depth being disposed at least substantially below an outer length axis of the outer collar portion, as measured in the upward vertical direction.

7 . The haptic system of claim 1 , wherein the first footwear article comprises a first collar including the first inner collar portion and a first outer collar portion and the second footwear article comprises a second collar including the second inner collar portion and a second outer collar portion; wherein the first inner collar portion is defined by the first inner collar portion configuration and the first outer collar portion is defined by a first outer collar portion configuration, the first inner collar portion being at least substantially different than the first outer collar portion configuration; and wherein the second inner collar portion is defined by the second inner collar portion configuration and the second outer collar portion is defined by a second outer collar portion configuration, the second inner collar portion being at least substantially different than the second outer collar portion configuration.

8 . The haptic system of claim 7 , wherein the first inner collar portion configuration of the first collar comprises an at least substantially mirrored configuration relative to the second inner collar portion configuration of the second collar.

9 . The haptic system of claim 1 , wherein a collar height difference between the inner collar portion height and the outer collar portion height is between 8 mm and 30 cm.

10 . The haptic system of claim 1 , wherein the inner collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by the inner collar portion length and the outer collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by an outer collar portion length, and wherein the inner collar portion length is at least substantially different than the outer collar portion length.

11 . The haptic system of claim 10 , wherein the inner collar portion length is between 35 mm and 100 mm.

12 . The haptic system of claim 1 , wherein the inner collar portion configuration and the outer collar portion configuration are each defined by a respective collar portion length, a respective collar portion profile, and a respective collar portion height; wherein at least two of the respective collar portion lengths, the respective collar portion profiles, and the respective collar portion heights of the inner collar portion configuration and the outer collar portion configuration are different from one another.

13 . The haptic system of claim 12 , wherein each of the respective collar portion lengths and the respective collar portion profiles of the inner collar portion configuration and the outer collar portion configuration are different from one another.

14 . A haptic system for promoting identification of an alignment of a pair of footwear articles relative to one another with respect to a first foot and a second foot of a user, the haptic system comprising:

a first footwear article structured to be worn on the first foot of the user, the first footwear article comprising a first collar including a first inner collar portion and a first outer collar portion, wherein the first inner collar portion is defined by a first inner collar portion configuration and the first outer collar portion is defined by a first outer collar portion configuration; and

a second footwear article structured to be worn on the second foot of the user, the second footwear article comprising a second collar including a second inner collar portion and a second outer collar portion, wherein the second inner collar portion is defined by a second inner collar portion configuration and the second outer collar portion is defined by a second outer collar portion configuration;

an inner collar portion length extending between the first inner collar portion and the second inner collar portion;

wherein the first inner collar portion configuration of the first inner collar portion at least partially corresponds to a first palm curvature of a first hand of the user and the second inner collar portion configuration of the second inner collar portion at least partially corresponds to a second palm curvature of a second hand of the user so as to generate a haptic response to the user to differentiate the first footwear article from the second footwear article upon the user engaging the inner collar portion of one of the first footwear article and the second footwear article;

wherein a height of the first inner collar portion is different than a height of the first outer collar portion, and wherein a height of the second inner collar portion is different than a height of the second outer collar portion; and

wherein the first inner collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by a first inner collar portion profile comprising a vertical curvature defined at least partially in an upward vertical direction, the upward vertical direction being considered from a sole of the footwear article body to the collar, such that an inner collar portion peak defined by a maximum height of the first inner collar portion is arranged along the inner collar portion length between a first inner collar portion end and a second inner collar portion end, the inner collar portion peak being disposed at least substantially above a length axis of the first inner collar portion as measured in the upward vertical direction,

wherein the maximum height of the inner collar portion is a maximum linear distance between the inner collar portion peak and a supporting surface upon which the sole of the footwear article is positioned,

wherein the length axis is an imaginary line extending linearly between the first inner collar portion end and the second inner collar portion end,

wherein each of the first outer collar configuration and the second outer collar portion configuration defines a sinusoidal profile comprising a plurality of serially arranged curvatures having a plurality of peaks and a plurality of troughs.

15 . The haptic system of claim 14 , wherein the first inner collar portion configuration is defined at least in part by:

a first inner collar portion length extending between the first inner collar portion end provided at a front side of a top portion of a footwear article body and the second inner collar portion end provided at a rear side of the top portion of the footwear article body, as measured along the length axis extending linearly therebetween.

16 . The haptic system of claim 15 , wherein the first inner collar portion configuration of the first collar comprises an at least substantially mirrored configuration relative to the second inner collar portion configuration of the second collar.

17 . The haptic system of claim 16 , wherein the first inner collar portion configuration and the second outer collar portion configuration are each defined by a respective collar portion length, a respective collar portion profile, and a respective collar portion height; wherein at least two of the respective collar portion lengths, the respective collar portion profiles, and the respective collar portion heights of the first inner collar portion configuration and the second outer collar portion configuration are different from one another.

18 . The haptic system of claim 14 , wherein a second outer collar portion profile comprises a second vertical curvature defined at least partially in a downward vertical direction such that an outer collar portion depth defined by a minimum height of an outer collar portion is arranged along an outer collar portion length between a first outer collar portion end and a second outer collar portion end, the outer collar portion depth being disposed at least substantially below an outer length axis of the outer collar portion, as measured in the upward vertical direction.