Skip to main content

Watch Reebok’s robots make a pair of distinctive ‘Liquid Factory’ sneakers

The robots in Reebok’s video may look as if they’re preparing an exquisite dessert fit for a Michelin-star restaurant, but in reality they’re employing a 3D-drawing technique “to draw shoe componentry cleanly, precisely and in three-dimensional layers.” That’s right, they’re knocking together a pair of shoes.

The gloopy-looking gunk oozing from the robots’ nozzles is actually a proprietary liquid material created especially for Reebok by BASF. The “Liquid Factory” shoe-making process is set to be employed at a new sneaker manufacturing location opening in Lincoln, Rhode Island, early next year.

Recommended Videos

The innovative layering technique will be used to “create totally unique footwear, without the use of traditional molds,” the company said this week.

reebok-liquid-speed-2
Reebok
Reebok

With his job titled listed as “head of future,” it’s little surprise that Reebok’s Bill McInnis has little time for sneaker-building techniques of the past.

“Footwear manufacturing hasn’t dramatically changed over the last 30 years,” McInnis said in a release. “Every shoe, from every brand is created using molds – an expensive, time-consuming process. With Liquid Factory, we wanted to fundamentally change the way that shoes are made, creating a new method to manufacture shoes without molds. This opens up brand new possibilities both for what we can create, and the speed with which we can create it.”

reebok-shoe
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The former NASA engineer said that the new process allowed his team to “program robots to create the entire shoe outsole, without molds, by drawing in layers with a high-energy liquid material to create the first ever energy-return outsole, which performs dramatically better than a typical rubber outsole.”

He add that the Liquid Factory process also creates “a unique fit system that stretches and molds around the foot, providing a three-dimensional fit.”

Depending on your outlook, the result is either an awesome-looking shoe guaranteed to delight even the fussiest of feet, or a bonkers design apparently the work of a highly imaginative ketchup artist. Either way, it’s certainly distinctive.

To promote its robotic 3D-drawing technology, the Adidas-owned company has created a limited-edition Reebok Liquid Speed sneaker. Three hundred pairs of the U.S.-made shoe are available, each costing $190. Would you put them on your feet?

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Be ready for storm season: Dual fuel portable generator is $150 off today
Pulsar dual fuel portable generator with gas can in background

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that a ton of early Black Friday deals have dropped. There are the usual suspects like laptops, electronics, gaming gear, and beyond. But me, I prefer to pick up unusual items during the huge holiday sales. You know exactly what I mean, the kind of stuff that doesn't usually go on sale any other time. One of those items is a portable generator. Where I live it seems like they rarely go on sale, and when you need them most they're never in stock. People flock to the stores to buy them just before a big storm. Well, right now, Pulsar and Walmart have an incredible deal on a 12,000-watt dual-fuel generator. Normally $900 it's down to $749 which saves you $151. It can run for up to 12 hours on an 8-gallon fuel tank.

 
Why shop the Pulsar 12,000-watt dual-fuel portable generator for Black Friday?

Read more
Save up to $550 on the Velotric Discover e-bikes for Black Friday
Velotric Discover 2 left profile view with parked by next to the Farmington River.

We're not even to the official Black Friday yet and already I'm feeling the deals fatigue. If I'm going to get around these next couple of weeks I'll need something that does all the work. Something like, you guessed it, an e-bike. Enter Velotric with its excellent selection of e-bikes, which tend to rate highly here amongst my colleagues. The Velotric Discover 2, for example, received high marks -- 4.5 stars. But while we do love a good product or two here at Digital Trends, we also love us some great deals and discounts. That's why we couldn't pass up the opportunity to share these Velotric on the Discover 1 Plus and Discover 2.
Velotric Discover 1 Plus e-bike -- now $1,049, was $1,599 34% off

Best Features:

Read more
The BLUETTI Handsfree 2 is a solar backpack and power station — It’s $200 off
BLUETTI Handsfree 2 solar backpack and power station -- black friday deal

While you're busy shopping through all of the Best Cyber Monday deals, here's a little something that might pique your interest. You'll be even more excited if you spend a lot of time outdoors or off-grid. You might want to wait on grabbing that Cyber Monday portable power station deal. Allow me to explain. The BLUETTI Handsfree 2 is a backpack, like any other outdoor pack you might encounter, except for one thing. It's also a power station and solar generator. Believe me when I say this thing is insane and super useful. But for Cyber Monday, there's a deal that includes the BLUETTI Handsfree 2 and a 100-watt solar panel to charge it on the go. Normally $799, it's yours for just $599, saving you $200. Wow. You have to read what it can all do, so don't leave just yet.

 
Why buy the BLUETTI Handsfree 2 solar backpack and power station?

Read more