Interestingly, we are beginning a project with a local orthotics company
doing exactly that. Besides pure shape, you also need pressure
distribution information and lower body dynamics and kinematics
information throughout the gait cycle. All of the information is easily
obtainable using technology that exists today--the hard part is, how do
you integrate it and come up with a near-optimal design for that
individual. Right now, orthotists who do custom orthotics are real good
at doing this the old fashioned way--in their heads, based on their expert
knowledge. Having a computer do it, though, is a different ball of wax.
Eventually, I think that this is the way that shoe stores of the future
will be--then hold up your foot for the camera (or laser scanner), walk on
this mat while we videotape you, and select your style from the shelf--and
come back tomorrow to pick up your custom shoes! Of course, if your feet
are in the database already, then your task is somewhat easier...
Justin
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Justin Kidder, Research Asst. | Automation and Robotics Laboratory
jrkst34+@pitt.edu | University of Pittsburgh
Home page: http://www.pitt.edu/~jrkst34
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On the other hand, you have different fingers.
On 17 Dec 1998, Brock Hinzmann wrote:
> Kyle,
>
> That's a good start; not so much the custom-fit shoes, but the fact that
> they keep the info on file. In the case of my running shoes, I would
> like to see something much different. It's one thing to scan my foot and
> make a shoe that fits it perfectly. The problem is, my running shoe
> needs to perform, absorbing tremendous weight on each stride, plus
> allowing me to roll from where I strike the ground with my heel, across
> the mid foot, to the ball of my foot, and push off with flexibility and
> speed, all according to my peculiar asymmetrical body dynamics. So how
> to you measure all of those things and put them in a shoe designed just
> for me? Can you do it for a price I am willing to pay? Alternatively,
> can you create a software package that will allow me to experiment with
> different designs myself and have them made at the local Kinko's 3-D
> Korner or in the personal factory in my home? In the meantime, I would
> at least like to see a running shoe Web site that allowed me to match my
> running and shoe-buying history with that of the shoe testers the
> running shoe companies use to help them design their shoes. In that way,
> I can at least figure out which shoe they are offering this month that I
> can wear, instead of having to buy four or five different unreturnable
> pairs of shoes to find one that suits me. If they can keep me healthy,
> I'll run more miles and buy more shoes.
>
> Brock Hinzmann
>
> Kyle Blake wrote:
> > There is a sneaker company that custom produces sneakers from your
> > individual specs they have on file.
>
> > Althought this is not widespread (or, I imagine, cheap) it may be that
> > the market is being seeded for mass customization. Customer
> > expectation is a highly powerful incentive for production innovations
> > like rp/rm.
For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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