19 ms·

Robot-woven sneaker with 3D-printed soles

159 points by pmastela 6y ago

bix6 6y ago
This is insanely cool...
fossuser 6y ago
I think the soles for this are done by Carbon in Redwood City. They've done some other cool stuff with their 3d printed lattice like the midsole of an Adidas shoe that's already out and some bike saddles (I think for Specialized and another brand I can't remember). https://www.carbon3d.com https://www.carbon3d.com
- krasin 6y ago
  Carbon3d is an under-appreciated tech. Their materials are incredible. A few years ago, we successfully used their elastomeric polyurethane to build a soft robotics gripper ([1], [2]) and we've got an impressive durability rating of 500K cycles (basically, months of continuous grasping). While our prototype never got into a production, it was very clear that Carbon3d has a uniquely strong proposition because of their materials. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxlaT_XmFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxlaT_XmFY 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itxe9g-Z3Rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itxe9g-Z3Rk
  - pen2l 6y ago
    Formlabs printers can do a lot of this stuff but at a fraction of the cost (base model costs around 2k, also has an expansive list of materials with interesting properties: https://formlabs.com/material-selector/ https://formlabs.com/material-selector/ ). Also, you don't own Carbon3d, you lease it, for like 50grand a year or something crazy like that.
    - krasin 6y ago
      We tried Formlabs, of course. We could print fingers like these, but none of the materials we tried (about 10 different options) survived more than 1000 cycles. As I said, Carbon3d underappreciated, because everyone think "it's just a more expensive Formlabs", while in fact Carbon3d is all about production-grade materials. If it was possible to take materials from Carbon3d and then print on Formlabs, that would be a very good combo.
      - fossuser 5y ago
        Agreed - not just materials either, Carbon printers are fast and for mass production. Making shoes via form printers at scale is not viable (form is nice for prototyping though and small scale stuff).
      - 3dee 5y ago
        I believe the big difference is that the Carbon printers use a special bottom plate that lets air molecules passing through. That's why they can use chemical reactions to create better material properties. This also means the print doesn't stick to the bottom plate and they can print faster.
  - maxioatic 5y ago
    It's not as unique as it used to be. Neither is their DLS printing technique. They also have an insane valuation [0], so I'm not sure if they are really that under appreciated. For example Origin [1], which was just bought by Stratasys, is very similar in a lot of ways. 0. https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/25/3d-printing-platform-carbon-raises-260-million-at-2-4-billion-valuation/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/25/3d-printing-platform-carb... 1. https://www.origin.io https://www.origin.io
- maxioatic 5y ago
  Yeah, they are printed using Carbon's printers but designed by adidas.
- andreareina 5y ago
  You might be thinking of Fizik: "The Adaptive saddle padding is crafted by Carbon using its revolutionary Digital Light Synthesis technology" https://www.fizik.com/eu_en/drops/adaptive.html https://www.fizik.com/eu_en/drops/adaptive.html
  - fossuser 5y ago
    Yep - that was the other one, thanks!
- vanattab 5y ago
  There is also another company out of Boston called Voxel8 working on 3d printed shoes. https://www.voxel8.com/ https://www.voxel8.com/
8128js8121 5y ago
I just picture this shoe unraveling during your jog, like a thread from my jeans.
- dylan604 5y ago
  you wear knitted jeans? of all of the clothing items to refer to as unraveling, jeans would not have come up in my mind at all. sweaters on the other hand...
- SilverRed 5y ago
  In a slightly more funny case, I had a friend have a shoe pop during a run when the air pocket ripped through the base.
- fungi 5y ago
  cleaning it out with a little stick after stepping in dog poo :(
TeeMassive 5y ago
Is there any projects for textile printers?
- teddyh 5y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom
Havoc 5y ago
That seems promising. 3D scanning your foot and printing a shoe seems vastly superior to what we're currently doing - vague size measurements.
ansible 5y ago
Anyone got a link to a video? It seems almost criminal to talk about tech like this without seeing it in use.
- p1mrx 5y ago
  I found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8i_eOnuGc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8i_eOnuGc, but it's mostly marketing drivel.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    "we're targeting fast runners, 5:30minute mile runners" way back in high school, i was a 5:45minute miler, and hit 5:30 once. it was not fast, at least fast enough to win. sure, 5:30 isn't a walk, but maybe my views on the mile speeds are skewed because i was in it.??
    - p1mrx 5y ago
      I see some graphs here: https://medium.com/runkeeper-everyone-every-run/how-long-till-the-finish-line-494361cc901b https://medium.com/runkeeper-everyone-every-run/how-long-til... 5:30/mile is like 17:00/5km, which is near the edge of the bell curve.
      - icegreentea2 5y ago
        Yeah, pretty sure they were talking about longer distance runs. Mile/1500m events are typically run with spikes... this stuff looks cool, but pretty sure they'd still lose out to similarly lightweight spikes.
        aardvarkr 5y ago
        Why can they not put spikes on these shoes? Best of both worlds
        5y ago
zuhayeer 5y ago
This is sweet, it's an Adidas project called FUTURECRAFT.STRUNG, blog post here: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 Adidas is really leaning into a lot of new tech, having just recently announced Stan Smith Mylo too, shoes made with mushroom based leather: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/663481 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/663481
- maxioatic 5y ago
  Also, not as cool as either strung or mylo, but Futurenatural was dropped recently too: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/606245 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/606245
skratlo 5y ago
Dirt catcher 3000
- dylan604 5y ago
  Mud weights once they get wet with that dirt
- SilverRed 5y ago
  If the shoe is strong enough, you could just chuck it in the washing machine on a low impact wash to remove all dirt.
riazrizvi 5y ago
Sure sounds a lot sexier than ‘Machine-woven sneaker with 3D-printed soles’ given that custom-pattern machine-weaving is 200 hundred-year-old tech.
- cjohansson 5y ago
  I agree, the truth would never sell, I'm glad I clicked on this because it was interesting stuff even if the headline was clickbaity'
sorenjan 5y ago
This seems as overengineered as Juicero. Technology for technology's sake.
- SilverRed 5y ago
  Sure, this shoe is a marketing piece, but this kind of tech could be the way forward to end forced/child labor in china used to produce the average shoe. If Adidas can solidify the tech and pave a way forward, this could be huge.
  - sorenjan 5y ago
    This article is about automatic weaving of the upper[0], combined with a separate 3D printed sole. That's not done by forced or child labor today either[1], the supposed added value is a bespoke upper tailored to your feet by 3D scanning them first. That's not something that's really needed, regular uppers are flexible enough to work with different feet already, and it certainly isn't a way to produce the average shoe. [0] https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 [1] https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2020/04/knit-shoe-construction/ https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2020/04/knit-shoe-constructio...
- wombatmobile 5y ago
  The human foot is a strong and complex mechanical structure containing 26 bones, 33 joints (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. I suppose you are thinking "Why should I care, those Walmart sneakers fit me just fine" but if you had to pay podiatrist $400 for custom orthotics every year this article would get your attention. TFA says the first applications are for elite athletes. Pravda says this is potentially a way to free the poorest paid workers of the world from some of the most difficult repititious labour. Isaac Asimov says in the future lots of things will be made this way. What will all the people be doing in the future when all the work is done by machines? Some of them will be writing novels, and editing documentaries, about how the world used to be before robots.
  - sorenjan 5y ago
peter_l_downs 5y ago
like the boosts, i would never consider training in these due to the lack of support. if i were racing i would wear spikes. they look sick though and i would absolutely consider wearing a pair just as regular sneakers. i'm surprised that shoe companies still have to pretend that runners are their target demographic for cool shoes like these, when in reality it's obviously for sneakerheads / the general public who would like a neat and comfortable pair of sneakers.
- loonster 5y ago
  There are so many crevices for dirt, I would have to treat them like house slippers if I owned them.
  - Cthulhu_ 5y ago
    If they're sold, they will be collectibles (there's a big sneaker market out there where shoes are traded up until some rich enough guy buys them to wear once). For day to day use, there's $30 Nikes that are fine.
    - asutekku 5y ago
      These 3D printed soles are already in mass produced shoes sold in adidas’ website. They are not collectibles anymore, just shoes with a different kind of sole.
- kube-system 5y ago
  As some Detroit auto marketing exec once said: “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday”.
dontblink 5y ago
How long until shoes are custom made from scans of each individual's foot to obtain the optimal fit?
- NathanielK 5y ago
  The problem is that there is a lot of of variance in preferences. Clothing etailers have the same problem where some people are used to it being snugger in different areas. Folks who share dimensions may be used to different fits.
- toast0 5y ago
  Hockey shops are 3d scanning feet, but they don't have individualized boots to go with that; it just gets you a shoe size and one of three fit profiles within that size.
  - saiya-jin 5y ago
    Better ski touring (and even just alpine skiing) boots have inner soft parts that are heat-moldable to fit perfectly to everyone's unique feet. Ski shops all have these heat machine specifically for this, but there are tutorials on how to even do it at home with just rice, socks and microwave in case you shop online (with almost no risk of destroying it as usual)
- jspash 5y ago
  It's common to shape the sole of performance cycling shoes, but not by way of scanning. I had a pair done a while back which where made by me stepping on a heated rubbery platform that slowly took the shape of my feet. The thing I stood on was then used to vacuum-shape a carbon fibre insole. It's probably been around for a while, by it was alien technology to me at the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmLO7SQ32o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmLO7SQ32o
  - hvna 5y ago
    I've had this done with some custom birkenstocks before. They heat molded the cork insoles to fit my feet. They were very comfortable and well worth the money and time saved from not having to break them in.
pumpkinhead 5y ago
I want one of these to custom-make shoes for me and my family. Son has in-turning soles and the podiatrist has recommended specialist shoes. Imagine that - the podiatrist can just write configs/settings that you could load into the shoe-maker and we're done. Then I want a machine to custom-make pants and shirts. The rubbish from the dept store never seems to fit all that well and wear out far too quickly.
- jean_tta 5y ago
  Most custom-made clothes are made with machines in most operations. The solution to clothes that do no fit and are low quality is getting higher quality clothes that are either bespoke or tailored. This is a solved problem.
osobo 5y ago
I can only see the horror that's waiting to happen when (not if) you step in a dog turd.
- hvna 5y ago
  They should ship them with a restaurant-style high pressure dish sprayer so you can just hose them out when you're done.
- asutekku 5y ago
  The bottom of the sole is still solid.
lofi_lory 5y ago
Overall I believe the industry of sewing clothes is gonna be the last to be fully automated. The 3D manipulation of 2D fabric is just too finicky and screams for the human touch, experienced, versatile fingers. But starting off 2D, mass produced fabric is just so much more efficient and versatile. Sadly, this is bad news for the future of human freedom, as it will mean the associated exploitation and environmental impact isn't gonna end soon either. However, I have this hypothesis this problem can be solved with software otherwise, by removing the complexity and hurdle of custom pattern creation and distribution to the typical end consumer. You can't make your own fridge, smartphone, and even wood working is out of reach for most people in the city (space, logistics). However, everyone physically capable could in principle sew their own clothes, if it's just down to the sewing part. Traditional pattern creation and/or application is the hard part. Space needed, investment in the sewing machine and fabric, time expenditure... It's all relatively feasible to most. I think having a FOSS variant of Clo3d, UI optimized to match different experience levels and a github like collaboration network would offer the potential to kill a good chunk of fast fashion, complex supply chains, and consequently ecological and humanitarian exploitation. Imagine using a camera or lidar scanner to measure your body, load that to the software, have the design specification applied to your personal body model, the pattern projected onto the fabric for cutting, or even laser cut, until all is left is sewing the pieces together according to the community improved instructions. No more compromises in fitting. Things will last and be cared for, because you made them yourself. Fewer better clothing. Or delegate this to your local sewing service, which operates under the same opportunity of reduced overhead. Things just need to be FOSS to have this change the world. Clo3d costs 500€/month minimum... But really it's just blender with extra steps. It can be done.
- RicoElectrico 5y ago
  > The 3D manipulation of 2D fabric is just too finicky and screams for the human touch, experienced, versatile fingers. Maybe asking robots to do the human thing is not the right approach. Just like dishwashers don't do things resembling how humans approach the task. Which implies the clothing would have to change somehow. Is that even possible? I don't know.
  - 5y ago
amelius 5y ago
Handmade is still the best. It seems that the more technology advances, the more technically inferior the products become.
erwinh 5y ago
Was working on a small scale startup trying to do this a couple of years ago using more DIY-style 3d printers and flexible fillament: https://dialectic.design/project/solemaker https://dialectic.design/project/solemaker Very impressive to see Adidas committing to this concept with real industrial robots and printers for a couple of years already with the Speedfactory and this etc.

159 points by pmastela 6y ago

bix6 6y ago

This is insanely cool...

I think the soles for this are done by Carbon in Redwood City. They've done some other cool stuff with their 3d printed lattice like the midsole of an Adidas shoe that's already out and some bike saddles (I think for Specialized and another brand I can't remember). https://www.carbon3d.com https://www.carbon3d.com

krasin 6y ago
Carbon3d is an under-appreciated tech. Their materials are incredible. A few years ago, we successfully used their elastomeric polyurethane to build a soft robotics gripper ([1], [2]) and we've got an impressive durability rating of 500K cycles (basically, months of continuous grasping). While our prototype never got into a production, it was very clear that Carbon3d has a uniquely strong proposition because of their materials. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxlaT_XmFY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnxlaT_XmFY 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itxe9g-Z3Rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itxe9g-Z3Rk
- pen2l 6y ago
  Formlabs printers can do a lot of this stuff but at a fraction of the cost (base model costs around 2k, also has an expansive list of materials with interesting properties: https://formlabs.com/material-selector/ https://formlabs.com/material-selector/ ). Also, you don't own Carbon3d, you lease it, for like 50grand a year or something crazy like that.
  - krasin 6y ago
    We tried Formlabs, of course. We could print fingers like these, but none of the materials we tried (about 10 different options) survived more than 1000 cycles. As I said, Carbon3d underappreciated, because everyone think "it's just a more expensive Formlabs", while in fact Carbon3d is all about production-grade materials. If it was possible to take materials from Carbon3d and then print on Formlabs, that would be a very good combo.
    - fossuser 5y ago
      Agreed - not just materials either, Carbon printers are fast and for mass production. Making shoes via form printers at scale is not viable (form is nice for prototyping though and small scale stuff).
    - 3dee 5y ago
      I believe the big difference is that the Carbon printers use a special bottom plate that lets air molecules passing through. That's why they can use chemical reactions to create better material properties. This also means the print doesn't stick to the bottom plate and they can print faster.
- maxioatic 5y ago
  It's not as unique as it used to be. Neither is their DLS printing technique. They also have an insane valuation [0], so I'm not sure if they are really that under appreciated. For example Origin [1], which was just bought by Stratasys, is very similar in a lot of ways. 0. https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/25/3d-printing-platform-carbon-raises-260-million-at-2-4-billion-valuation/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/25/3d-printing-platform-carb... 1. https://www.origin.io https://www.origin.io
maxioatic 5y ago
Yeah, they are printed using Carbon's printers but designed by adidas.
andreareina 5y ago
You might be thinking of Fizik: "The Adaptive saddle padding is crafted by Carbon using its revolutionary Digital Light Synthesis technology" https://www.fizik.com/eu_en/drops/adaptive.html https://www.fizik.com/eu_en/drops/adaptive.html
- fossuser 5y ago
  Yep - that was the other one, thanks!
vanattab 5y ago
There is also another company out of Boston called Voxel8 working on 3d printed shoes. https://www.voxel8.com/ https://www.voxel8.com/

8128js8121 5y ago

I just picture this shoe unraveling during your jog, like a thread from my jeans.

dylan604 5y ago
you wear knitted jeans? of all of the clothing items to refer to as unraveling, jeans would not have come up in my mind at all. sweaters on the other hand...
SilverRed 5y ago
In a slightly more funny case, I had a friend have a shoe pop during a run when the air pocket ripped through the base.
fungi 5y ago
cleaning it out with a little stick after stepping in dog poo :(

TeeMassive 5y ago

Is there any projects for textile printers?

teddyh 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom

Havoc 5y ago

That seems promising. 3D scanning your foot and printing a shoe seems vastly superior to what we're currently doing - vague size measurements.

ansible 5y ago

Anyone got a link to a video? It seems almost criminal to talk about tech like this without seeing it in use.

p1mrx 5y ago
I found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8i_eOnuGc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8i_eOnuGc, but it's mostly marketing drivel.
- dylan604 5y ago
  "we're targeting fast runners, 5:30minute mile runners" way back in high school, i was a 5:45minute miler, and hit 5:30 once. it was not fast, at least fast enough to win. sure, 5:30 isn't a walk, but maybe my views on the mile speeds are skewed because i was in it.??
  - p1mrx 5y ago
    I see some graphs here: https://medium.com/runkeeper-everyone-every-run/how-long-till-the-finish-line-494361cc901b https://medium.com/runkeeper-everyone-every-run/how-long-til... 5:30/mile is like 17:00/5km, which is near the edge of the bell curve.
    - icegreentea2 5y ago
      Yeah, pretty sure they were talking about longer distance runs. Mile/1500m events are typically run with spikes... this stuff looks cool, but pretty sure they'd still lose out to similarly lightweight spikes.
      - aardvarkr 5y ago
        Why can they not put spikes on these shoes? Best of both worlds
        5y ago

zuhayeer 5y ago

This is sweet, it's an Adidas project called FUTURECRAFT.STRUNG, blog post here: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 Adidas is really leaning into a lot of new tech, having just recently announced Stan Smith Mylo too, shoes made with mushroom based leather: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/663481 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/663481

maxioatic 5y ago
Also, not as cool as either strung or mylo, but Futurenatural was dropped recently too: https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/606245 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/606245

skratlo 5y ago

Dirt catcher 3000

dylan604 5y ago
Mud weights once they get wet with that dirt
SilverRed 5y ago
If the shoe is strong enough, you could just chuck it in the washing machine on a low impact wash to remove all dirt.

riazrizvi 5y ago

Sure sounds a lot sexier than ‘Machine-woven sneaker with 3D-printed soles’ given that custom-pattern machine-weaving is 200 hundred-year-old tech.

cjohansson 5y ago
I agree, the truth would never sell, I'm glad I clicked on this because it was interesting stuff even if the headline was clickbaity'

sorenjan 5y ago

This seems as overengineered as Juicero. Technology for technology's sake.

SilverRed 5y ago
Sure, this shoe is a marketing piece, but this kind of tech could be the way forward to end forced/child labor in china used to produce the average shoe. If Adidas can solidify the tech and pave a way forward, this could be huge.
- sorenjan 5y ago
  This article is about automatic weaving of the upper[0], combined with a separate 3D printed sole. That's not done by forced or child labor today either[1], the supposed added value is a bespoke upper tailored to your feet by 3D scanning them first. That's not something that's really needed, regular uppers are flexible enough to work with different feet already, and it certainly isn't a way to produce the average shoe. [0] https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 https://www.adidas.com/us/blog/562694 [1] https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2020/04/knit-shoe-construction/ https://www.sneakerfactory.net/2020/04/knit-shoe-constructio...
wombatmobile 5y ago
The human foot is a strong and complex mechanical structure containing 26 bones, 33 joints (20 of which are actively articulated), and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. I suppose you are thinking "Why should I care, those Walmart sneakers fit me just fine" but if you had to pay podiatrist $400 for custom orthotics every year this article would get your attention. TFA says the first applications are for elite athletes. Pravda says this is potentially a way to free the poorest paid workers of the world from some of the most difficult repititious labour. Isaac Asimov says in the future lots of things will be made this way. What will all the people be doing in the future when all the work is done by machines? Some of them will be writing novels, and editing documentaries, about how the world used to be before robots.
- sorenjan 5y ago

peter_l_downs 5y ago

like the boosts, i would never consider training in these due to the lack of support. if i were racing i would wear spikes. they look sick though and i would absolutely consider wearing a pair just as regular sneakers. i'm surprised that shoe companies still have to pretend that runners are their target demographic for cool shoes like these, when in reality it's obviously for sneakerheads / the general public who would like a neat and comfortable pair of sneakers.

loonster 5y ago
There are so many crevices for dirt, I would have to treat them like house slippers if I owned them.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  If they're sold, they will be collectibles (there's a big sneaker market out there where shoes are traded up until some rich enough guy buys them to wear once). For day to day use, there's $30 Nikes that are fine.
  - asutekku 5y ago
    These 3D printed soles are already in mass produced shoes sold in adidas’ website. They are not collectibles anymore, just shoes with a different kind of sole.
kube-system 5y ago
As some Detroit auto marketing exec once said: “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday”.

dontblink 5y ago

How long until shoes are custom made from scans of each individual's foot to obtain the optimal fit?

NathanielK 5y ago
The problem is that there is a lot of of variance in preferences. Clothing etailers have the same problem where some people are used to it being snugger in different areas. Folks who share dimensions may be used to different fits.
toast0 5y ago
Hockey shops are 3d scanning feet, but they don't have individualized boots to go with that; it just gets you a shoe size and one of three fit profiles within that size.
- saiya-jin 5y ago
  Better ski touring (and even just alpine skiing) boots have inner soft parts that are heat-moldable to fit perfectly to everyone's unique feet. Ski shops all have these heat machine specifically for this, but there are tutorials on how to even do it at home with just rice, socks and microwave in case you shop online (with almost no risk of destroying it as usual)
jspash 5y ago
It's common to shape the sole of performance cycling shoes, but not by way of scanning. I had a pair done a while back which where made by me stepping on a heated rubbery platform that slowly took the shape of my feet. The thing I stood on was then used to vacuum-shape a carbon fibre insole. It's probably been around for a while, by it was alien technology to me at the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmLO7SQ32o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vmLO7SQ32o
- hvna 5y ago
  I've had this done with some custom birkenstocks before. They heat molded the cork insoles to fit my feet. They were very comfortable and well worth the money and time saved from not having to break them in.

pumpkinhead 5y ago

I want one of these to custom-make shoes for me and my family. Son has in-turning soles and the podiatrist has recommended specialist shoes. Imagine that - the podiatrist can just write configs/settings that you could load into the shoe-maker and we're done. Then I want a machine to custom-make pants and shirts. The rubbish from the dept store never seems to fit all that well and wear out far too quickly.

jean_tta 5y ago
Most custom-made clothes are made with machines in most operations. The solution to clothes that do no fit and are low quality is getting higher quality clothes that are either bespoke or tailored. This is a solved problem.

osobo 5y ago

I can only see the horror that's waiting to happen when (not if) you step in a dog turd.

hvna 5y ago
They should ship them with a restaurant-style high pressure dish sprayer so you can just hose them out when you're done.
asutekku 5y ago
The bottom of the sole is still solid.

lofi_lory 5y ago

Overall I believe the industry of sewing clothes is gonna be the last to be fully automated. The 3D manipulation of 2D fabric is just too finicky and screams for the human touch, experienced, versatile fingers. But starting off 2D, mass produced fabric is just so much more efficient and versatile. Sadly, this is bad news for the future of human freedom, as it will mean the associated exploitation and environmental impact isn't gonna end soon either. However, I have this hypothesis this problem can be solved with software otherwise, by removing the complexity and hurdle of custom pattern creation and distribution to the typical end consumer. You can't make your own fridge, smartphone, and even wood working is out of reach for most people in the city (space, logistics). However, everyone physically capable could in principle sew their own clothes, if it's just down to the sewing part. Traditional pattern creation and/or application is the hard part. Space needed, investment in the sewing machine and fabric, time expenditure... It's all relatively feasible to most. I think having a FOSS variant of Clo3d, UI optimized to match different experience levels and a github like collaboration network would offer the potential to kill a good chunk of fast fashion, complex supply chains, and consequently ecological and humanitarian exploitation. Imagine using a camera or lidar scanner to measure your body, load that to the software, have the design specification applied to your personal body model, the pattern projected onto the fabric for cutting, or even laser cut, until all is left is sewing the pieces together according to the community improved instructions. No more compromises in fitting. Things will last and be cared for, because you made them yourself. Fewer better clothing. Or delegate this to your local sewing service, which operates under the same opportunity of reduced overhead. Things just need to be FOSS to have this change the world. Clo3d costs 500€/month minimum... But really it's just blender with extra steps. It can be done.

RicoElectrico 5y ago
> The 3D manipulation of 2D fabric is just too finicky and screams for the human touch, experienced, versatile fingers. Maybe asking robots to do the human thing is not the right approach. Just like dishwashers don't do things resembling how humans approach the task. Which implies the clothing would have to change somehow. Is that even possible? I don't know.
- 5y ago

amelius 5y ago

Handmade is still the best. It seems that the more technology advances, the more technically inferior the products become.

erwinh 5y ago

Was working on a small scale startup trying to do this a couple of years ago using more DIY-style 3d printers and flexible fillament: https://dialectic.design/project/solemaker https://dialectic.design/project/solemaker Very impressive to see Adidas committing to this concept with real industrial robots and printers for a couple of years already with the Speedfactory and this etc.