Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. News

With just a few pictures of your feet, Wiivv can make you a pair of custom 3D printed insoles

Chloe Olewitz
By

3D printed shoes and insoles are all the rage these days, but only a select few are actually mass-market ready and making their way to your feet. One of these select few products comes from a company called Wiivv, which has created an innovative home scanning process that allows you to order custom 3D printed insoles from an app on your mobile phone. With a few photos captured on your smart phone, you can order highly specific insoles that are specially suited to support each foot for every wearer.

Wiivv (pronounced “Weave”), was founded in Vancouver by Shamir Hargovan and Louis-Victor Jadavji. After working for other 3D printing companies, both Wiivv’s founders and its CTO all left their positions to focus on the Wiivv initiative. Their industry expertise and startup mentality have allowed Wiivv to bring the wow factor of 3D printed footwear to a more accessible platform. With $3 million in seed funding from recognizable investors including the Canadian Government, Wiivv has moved on to a testing phase. The Wiivv 100 is a group of one thousand nurses, firefighters, and emergency service workers who are known to spend long, grueling hours on their feet.

Related Videos

Based on user-submitted smart phone scans, Wiivv uses SLS 3D printing techniques to create precision-formed insoles, and focuses on distributing impact and support evenly over the natural shape of the foot. And since every foot is different, even left to right in the same person, precise customization is key. By supporting every unique, natural arch, Wiivv insoles improve motion control and reduce foot fatigue. Correcting the way impact travels along the foot when standing, walking, or running can also prevent or help to heal foot and leg injuries. Shoes that don’t fit just right can exacerbate physical damage, and Wiivv wants to keep that damage at bay.

Related

Custom Wiivv insoles will cost $75, and come with aesthetic options in addition to the highly customized fit. Buyers can choose from four base colors and eight top sheet colors, and can specialize their Wiivvs for use in athletic, dress, or casual shoes. You can already scan your feet and order your own Wiivvs, but the company is also expected to launch a Kickstarter campaign in January.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ceramic ink could let doctors 3D print bones directly into a patient’s body
ceramic ink 3d printed bones bioprinting australia 2

Scientists use a novel ink to 3D print ‘bone’ with living cells

The term 3D bioprinting refers to the use of 3D printing technology to fabricate biomedical parts that, eventually, could be used to create replacement organs or other body parts as required. While we’re not at that point just yet, a number of big advances have been made toward this dream over the past couple of decades.

Read more
The future of making stuff: Inside the evolution of 3D printing with Formlabs
future of 3d printing formlabs ces 2021 castablewax40

When 3D printing went mainstream in the mid-2010s and exploded in popularity, it was about as hyped up as it possibly could be. Evangelists told us it would fundamentally transform the way goods were made, and usher in a bold new era of creative freedom. Soon, they said, we’d be able to fabricate anything we wanted on-demand, Star Trek replicator style, right from the comfort of our own homes.

But of course, 3D printing didn't really live up to that high-flying dream. Instead, it made a momentary splash and then largely returned to the fringes, gaining adoption in hobbyist workshops and cutting-edge product design labs, but not really changing the face of manufacturing in the way many hoped it might.

Read more
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury trailer reveals wild new game mode
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Nintendo released a new trailer for Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, which finally reveals information on the re-release's new mode. Bowser's Fury is an entirely new adventure that features a gigantic Bowser.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is a Nintendo Switch version of the 2013 Wii U game Super Mario 3D World. Nintendo previously revealed that the new edition would feature something called Bowser's Fury, but this is the first time the mode has been shown in any form.

Read more