Ecco to make customized shoes for the masses

Ecco and Cambridge Design Partnership will use 3-D printing technology to make on-site digital shoe customization scalable. Sports Textiles reports that the project, known as QUANT-U (quantified you), provides in minutes a digital analysis of a consumer’s foot structure, including the way that person moves.

Analysis begins with a wearable sensor embedded in the soles of the test shoes. The device collects a range of data using gyroscopes, pressure sensors and accelerometers to create a unique digital footprint based on an individual’s biomechanical and orthotic parameters. The information can then be translated into geometries for in-store 3D printing of a midsole, which can be produced in around two hours.

During the pilot phase of the project, the customized midsole will be paired with Ecco’s Flexure shoe. An initial public release of the project will take place at Ecco’s W-21 concept shoe store in Amsterdam in April 2018.