Running shoes have come a long way since the first mass-produced shoe, New Balance’s Trackstar, appeared on the market in 1960.
The latest from Adidas is a 3D-printed shoe designed to conform to your individual footprint. So long mass-production.
By partnering with 3D-printing company Materialise, Adidas developed Futurecraft, a shoe with flexible, breathable soles composed of latticed material.
The shoe is still a prototype, but the idea is that runners would visit a store and for a few moments, run barefoot on a treadmill.
During that time, 3-D scanning cameras would image the runner’s feet and sensors in the treadmill could record data on specific pressure points.
From there, a model of the running foot would be created and then used to generate a customized midsole that would be printed in the store and added to a pair of running shoes.
If you're a runner, this has got to sound like the next best thing since lube sticks.
Watch the video below for more details.