Following the launch of Parley Ultra Boost X, a shoe designed by Stella McCartney and created as part of adidas' partnership with Parley for the Oceans, adidas announced that it has partnered with Silicon Valley-based tech company Carbon to create the first performance footwear crafted with light and oxygen.
According to adidas, Futurecraft 4D performance footwear will feature midsoles made with light and oxygen through Digital Light Synthesis. Pioneered by Carbon, “Digital Light Synthesis uses digital light projection, oxygen-permeable optics, and programmable liquid resins to generate high-performance, durable polymeric products.” Basically, this process allows to eliminate the necessity of traditional prototyping or moulding.
Dr. Joseph DeSimone, Carbon Co-Founder and CEO, said:“Despite the influence of technology to improve almost every other aspect of our lives, for eons the manufacturing process has followed the same four steps that make up the product development cycle – design, prototype, tool, produce. Carbon has changed that; we’ve broken the cycle and are making it possible to go directly from design to production. We’re enabling engineers and designers to create previously impossible designs, and businesses to evolve their offerings, and FutureCraft 4D is evidence of that.”
Adidas uses running data from its library to “shape functional zones into midsole design crafted through Digital Light Synthesis". By using this technology, adidas steps into athlete data-driven design and manufacturing, officially departing from conventional additive manufacturing methods that impose restrictions on color and materials, and result in poor surface quality.
“With Digital Light Synthesis, we venture beyond limitations of the past, unlocking a new era in design and manufacturing. The one driven by athlete data and agile manufacturing processes. By charting a new course for our industry, we can unleash our creativity, transforming not just what we make, but how we make it,” said Eric Liedtke, adidas Group Executive Board Member Responsible For Global Brands. Digital Light Synthesis allows adidas to create performance products tailored to consumers’ individual physiological data, addressing their needs in regards to movement, stability and comfort.
Adidas plans to release more than 5000 pairs of Futurecraft 4D for retail in Fall/Winter 2017.
For further details, visit adidas.com/futurecraft and adidas.co.uk/futurecraft
You can find the video about adidas Futurecraft 4D here
by Natalie Myhalnytska
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