Recently there was an interview with Patrizio Carlucci, the head of Innovation Lab ECCO a subsidiary of Danish shoemaker ECCO. The lab is ECCO’s independent cross-disciplinary design studio. They create and deliver projects that focus on alternative production methods and new technologies. The lab’s project QUANT-U is built on industry experience and footwear research. It combines future technologies to create 3D printed customized comfort for consumers, which is great for the footwear industry. Carlucci is an industrial designer by trade but has a passion for 3D printing. Adapting innovative design tools early helped him with transformation and change management. By being agile in product design and developments more opportunities were available early on. He has personally experienced almost any phase of advanced product development. This helped Patrizio with a decent understanding of advantages and shortcoming that come from innovative technologies like 3D printing. He has stated that 3D modeling and developing a shoe is a challenging feat compared to other types of products.
Sometimes there can be inconsistencies between the 3D models and final shape of the shoe, because of components that can’t be molded, cemented or stitch in their final shape. 3D printing an outsole creates a decent representation but 3D printing a soft upper that feels correct can be a challenge. Right now, ECCO is focusing heavily on the wearable data computing process. There is a lot that is misunderstood with 3D printed footwear. They invested a lot of time with the digital capture and interpretation of motion and orthotic data for the creation of 3D models. As far as technology in wearables goes, the USA and Germany seem to be top at the list for now. Quant-U has an approach where a fundamental component of a shoe could be customized, and 3D printed using material and process that augments performance while keeping the manufacturing aspect intact.
Original Article: https://3dprint.com/243354/interview-with-patrizio-carlucci-of-innovation-lab-ecco-on-3d-printing-shoes/
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