3-D Printing Thursday! 1/25/18
3-D Printed Shoes!
In its three and a half years of existence, Carbon has become a leading light in the industry-wide push to bring 3-D printing to manufacturing. The company’s CLIP tech has sped up the process of additive manufacturing by leaps and bounds and has found the perfect partner in Adidas, whose Futurecraft 4-D shoes are the perfect poster child.
The news comes as Adidas’s 3-D printed Futurecraft sneakers are finally set to go on-sale as a limited release in New York after what seems like years of hype. The sneakers run an only-kind-of-crazy $300 a pair, and offer what’s arguably the most compelling argument for 3-D printing in manufacturing outside of the medical industry, where the tech has been applied to products like Invisalign.
Sneakers are so much more exciting to most than retainers, and Carbon’s CLIP tech is able to do some impressive things that are much more difficult to accomplish through more traditional manufacturing. The real magic happens in the mid soles, which feature 20,000 struts, bring extra comfort and cushioning to the shoes.
It seems like a safe bet that this is just the tip of the iceberg for the partnership and a push into truly mainstream 3-D printed footwear.
