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How 3D printed shoes could revolutionize the sneaker industry
By combining modern 3D printers with the latest computer models, scientists hope they can revolutionize the entire sneaker industry.
Shoemakers and sneaker designers have been toying with the idea of 3D printing for a number of years, but have so far failed to have any meaningful impact on the market. Now, scientists think combining high-tech computer models with 3D printers could revolutionize the entire sneaker industry.
New computer models could find you the perfect sneakers in seconds
One of the biggest problems people have when it comes to the sneaker industry, specifically around running shoes, is that everyone has a different foot shape and size.
This means a shoe that works well for one person might trip up another, and you need to physically try on each set before figuring that out which can be costly in both time and money.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) now think they have cracked the code, revealing a new computer model that can predict how different shoe properties can affect a consumer and their running performance.
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The model takes information like a persons height, weight, foot size, and shape; alongside data on shoe properties like bounciness and stiffness, to simulate how they would run in a particular set of sneakers.
The researchers can then simulate how that person would run in different types of shoes so that consumers can easily tell which sneaker is best suited for them. The hope is that with the help of modern 3D printers, the whole sneaker-finding process could be sped up and made much more specific to you.
Shoe designers are starting to 3D print shoes, meaning they can now make them with a much wider range of properties than with just a regular slab of foam,” explained Sarah Fay, one of the researchers who led this study.
“Our model could help them design really novel shoes that are also high-performing.”
The researchers claim the ultimate goal, or moonshot as they put it, would be that: Way down the road, we imagine that if you send us a video of yourself running, we could 3D print the shoe that’s right for you.”
Here, you would simply take a quick video of yourself running from your smartphone, send it off to an expert, who can 3D print a sneaker that is specifically designed for your foot and your foot only.
With 3D printing, designers can tune everything about the material response locally& This gives us confidence that the model can predict how people will actually run, even if we change their shoe.”
Fellow researcher Anette Peko Hosoi added: “In some ways, this gives you a quantitative way to design a shoe for a 10K versus a marathon shoe.
“Designers have an intuitive sense for that. But now we have a mathematical understanding that we hope designers can use as a tool to kickstart new ideas.”
What do you think; would you be willing to forgo sneaker shopping in person (arguably one of the more enjoyable parts of shopping), in favor of getting a 3D printed sneaker that perfectly fits your running style?
