adidas Futurecraft 4D
adidas has unveiled its Futurecraft 4D shoe featuring midsoles 3D printed with Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS).
Building on the footwear giant’s original Futurecraft 3D Runner midsole announced back in 2015, the new midsole was built harnessing a library of running data with Carbon’s production-focussed 3D technology and programmable engineering-grade resins.
Eric Liedtke, adidas Group Executive Board Member Responsible For Global Brands, said: “With Digital Light Synthesis, we venture beyond limitations of the past, unlocking a new era in design and manufacturing. 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.”
Carbon’s DLS technology enabled by CLIP has allowed adidas to eliminate traditional prototyping and moulding steps and will become an integral part of its Speedfactory facility with plans to deliver 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018. The news comes soon after the launch of the Silicon Valley company’s new SpeedCell solution which aims to remove the four fundamental steps of the product development cycle and allow manufacturers to iterate on the means of production.
Dr. Joseph DeSimone, Carbon Co-Founder and CEO, said: “We’re enabling engineers and designers to create previously impossible designs, and businesses to evolve their offerings, and FutureCraft 4D is evidence of that. Our partnership with adidas will serve as an ongoing testament to how the digital revolution has reached the global manufacturing sector, changing the way physical goods are designed, engineered, made, and delivered.”
adidas is delivering 300 pairs of the Futurecraft 4D shoe to friends and family later this month and will release over 5,000 pairs for general sale at the end of 2017.
