The world of 3D printing is a rapidly progressing industry with new innovations arising on a daily basis. 3D printing is now being used for home décor, toys, tools, and now even footwear. The Chinese startup company, Jiaodu Technology, have developed the world’s first 3D foot scanning process which they have dubbed: “Foot of the Cloud” (rough translation). Their new scanner is used to make the customization process of footwear even more accurate and reliable.
The Dream
One of the main focus of this new endeavor is to target women who like wearing beautiful shoes, even though they are often uncomfortable and detrimental to foot health. The company wants to help produce beautiful footwear for women and men that is formed for their feet which means better foot health.
Jiaodu hopes that one day people will be able to walk into a shoe store and look through a catalog of hundreds if not thousands of styles of shoes. Once a consumer has found a pair of shoes they like, they can have their feet scanned. The scanner can analyze all the contours of anyone’s foot within 3 seconds. After the scan, the data can be sent directly to the shoe manufacturers who can then produce a 3D printed shoe that is perfectly fitted and designed for one pair of feet.
There are currently 10 shoe models available and they cost a few hundred dollars. The dream is that in the future, this idea will blow up and make its way around the world and break into every facet of the shoe industry.
