Why Your Next Pair of Shoes Might Be Made by...HP?

No pain, no gain, the saying goes, but when it comes to footwear, it doesn't have to be that way. The industry is hard at work applying AI, machine learning, and 3D scanning to shoe design, and it was all on display at the recent Footwear Innovation Summit in Los Angeles.

Onstage, Natacha Alpert, founder of consulting firm Miras3D and former product director for Reebok, Adidas, and Timberland, introduced Sarah Clevinger, Senior Business Development and Strategic Partnership Manager at HP Inc., who was wearing her own custom footwear.

They were created at a FitStation powered by HP, which captured a 3D scan of her feet and dynamic gait analysis (including pressure pattern, heel rotation, propulsion index, and dynamic knee variation). The system identified her "unique motion path" and built a one-off "personal Kinetic Profile."

When we caught up with her afterwards, Clevinger told us why a computer company is getting into the footwear business.

"HP is a technology provider, and FitStation is a perfect product as we're moving towards Factory Manufacturing 4.0, in the new industrial revolution," she told PCMag, pointing to tech like 3D printers, which can build custom products at a faster and more affordable rate."

HP also wants to improve margins for manufacturers. In the apparel industry, especially those with online shops, returns are a real problem and cost firms an estimated $62 billion a year in refunds. HP is developing the FitStation as a B2B business to help shoe retailers combat this problem with recommendations and on-demand manufacturing built to the customer's requirements. But HP's team is also working with the military and high-performance athletes.

"Ill-fitting shoes are a problem across the consumer and professional markets," she explained. "We found that a lot of athletes have a vanity about their shoe size and don't realize that they need a more close-fitting shoe. That's where injuries happen and, through FitStation, we hope to avert these."

Volumental

Sadly, there wasn't a FitStation to try at the Footwear Innovation Summit. But Anna Ultvedt Malkan, VP of Sales at Volumental, a Swedish 3D body-scanning firm, invited PCMag to try out its tech.

The Volumental 3D scanning software interface took just 4.5 seconds to extract 16 data points from both my feet: including granular level of detail such as arch height, ball width, and heel girth. Then the 3D files were processed via the Volumental Cloud Platform and sent to me via email. If this was a real-life shoe buying scenario, it would also be available to the shop assistant standing by.

"Volumental sees a future where it's as easy to buy shoes that fit perfectly as it is to buy anything else," said Malkan. "First, we see that unlocking the data of millions of feet can transform the way shoes are designed and manufactured, and we're still scratching the surface of what foot data can do. Second, we see that applying artificial intelligence to shoe recommendations can change the whole shopping process."

Volumental Fit Engine populated a nearby tablet device with instant recommendations. I scrolled down. There was a wide range of footwear which, the AI assured me, would work well with my particular feet.

"Shoe shoppers—whether you're online or in a boutique store—should never ask themselves 'I like this, but does it fit?" said Malkan. "Or 'I can't decide if 9 or 10 is better.' Take 5 seconds, get a scan, see which shoes that fit you perfectly, and then ask yourself the harder question 'Which is my favorite?'"

Volumental's Fit Engine recommendations had a more casual style than I'm used to, though Malkan pointed said they'd only loaded in athletic shoes for the summit. I've remained faithful to the 1461 3 Eye Oxfords from Dr. Martens (or the now sadly discontinued Monks Strap edition, you can see in my PCMag profile), since university. I'm just not ready to transition to, say, New Balance sneakers.

Wiivv

But it's not just technology that's is driving this movement towards custom footwear; it's a generational shift. "Millennials and younger consumers are looking for custom products. They don't want more products, they want better products, as well as a narrative, and an understanding of the manufacturing process behind those products," said Shamil Hargovan, CEO of Wiivv, which makes custom sandals and bespoke insoles.

Consumers download the Wiivv app, take photographs of their feet, and the cloud-based platform extrapolates those into 200+ data points, building out what they've dubbed "two-and-a-half D" scans, to ensure the perfect fit.

"Essentially we're heading towards automation at scale," said Hargovan.

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Wiivv has done some fancy machine learning to build a software stack that sends hundreds of scans to be 3D printed at one time, minimizing manufacturing time and reducing costs considerably.

"But this is just the beginning," he continued. "Our vision is, in the not too distant future, we'll print 3D sensors into the insoles and sandals themselves, so we can collect motion data and feed the system in real time, sending you new pairs, correcting any issues you may have with gait and so on, on the day you need them."

Apparently Wiivv custom sandals are so brilliantly bespoke that Chris Bellamy, Senior Engineer at Wiivv, wore them to run the entire 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon. Yes, in open-toes sandals (no socks).

When I was a student at the University of London, I used to walk down St. James's Street, near Soho, and peer into the mullioned windows of esteemed bootmakers John Lobb. Since 1829, the company, which holds two Royal Warrants (which means it continues to make bespoke shoes for His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, and his father, the Duke of Edinburgh), has made wooden lasts (custom casts of each foot) for its famous clientele, including Frank Sinatra.

So, when the Chairman of the Board required a new pair of Darby Black Leather Wingtip Lace Ups, his people would contact the store and they'd pull out the "Sinatra Last" to start making them from scratch. Mind you, each pair took about nine months and they weren't cheap (even vintage pairs run to $750 online today).

But it meant that every shoe was properly fitted and gave a spring to the step. Imagine having that kind of luxury but at mass manufacturing prices? It seems that AI, 3D printing, data science, and Factory Manufacturing 4.0 could bring that sort of service to everyone at last.

If you want to learn more, Natacha Alpert is speaking at the Boeing Center Industry Conference at Washington University on Oct. 18.