For most people, a shoe is a shoe. If it looks good and feels good, it’s a winner. But, for athletes, small design choices can be the difference between first and second place, especially in a sport like track where the difference can be measured in hundredths of a second. Fortunately, customization is what 3D printing does best.

Athletic shoe company New Balance is turning to 3D printing technology to build the ultimate custom shoe for Team New Balance, the company-sponsored track team. Using 3D printing, New Balance can customize the shoe’s spike plate. To do that, New Balance has an athlete run as if the athlete were running a race. It then collects biomechanical data using a force plate, in-shoe sensors, and a motion capture system. That data is then analyzed by advanced algorithms to create the perfect design for individual athletes which can then be printed.

“With 3D printing we are able to pursue performance customization at a new level to help our elite NB athletes and eventually all athletes. We believe this is the future of performance footwear and we are excited to bring this to consumers,” said New Balance President and CEO Robert DeMartini.

producer: new balance
period: 2013