Parametric Design Concept | Foot Health
PEAR & MULBERRY, 2020
Partner: ILSA Y. Li
Keywords: Parametric, Children footcare, 3d printing, Therapeutic
Tools: Grasshopper, Rhino, Keyshot, 3D printing
We|aver+ provides extra foot care for children aged 8-14 years old with common health issues like Calcaneal Apophysitis, which causes pain and even disability if not given sufficient care. Based on data diagnosed from foot pressure mapping and 3D scanning, optimized with computational design, We|aver+ shoes are capable of providing numerous style and function combinations to fit different foot conditions. Recyclable TPU is applied to 3D printing of We|aver+ shoes, which enables more sustainable reproduction for rapidly developing children’s feet with lower cost and less carbon footprints.
Shoes for Children
Wearing proper footwear is especially crucial for children whose feet are still growing and developing.
Studies have indicated in the past that younger children require more flexible footwear because they still have small bones and soft tendons in their feet. Therefore, they require a shoe that is flexible enough to allow for freedom of movement, but sturdy enough to offer the required support for stability and balance, without prohibiting proper foot growth.
The best footwear for children are shoes with flexible soles that will bend with the child's foot with every step, offer support in the center of the shoe to eliminate twisting their feet and give shock absorption and stabilization in the heels. The bottom of the shoe needs to have a textured surface with no-slip properties. Inserting anatomically shaped insoles offers children an extra level of stability and comfort, improving the child's balance and posture.
Components
The Weaver+ parametric shoe can be fully 3D printed with recyclable TPU and it consists of four main parts.
The dynamic sole will help with shock absorption for more support. The pattern on the bottom not only provides more traction to the ground, but also pre-designed with softer structure. At the toe part, the sole is easier to bend for better toe space, which is crucial for foot health. At the heel part, the structure is designed for balance foot pressure distribution. Moreover, from the wear of the bottom grid, wrong gait and foot pathologies could be observed and diagnosed accurately.
Featuring anatomical arch support, the modular insole will cradle the foot and provide different support forces in modular zones to enhance comfort from heel to toe. Style is important but should take a backseat to comfort here.
The print-knit upper combines technology with aesthetics. Due to parametric design and fast fabrication, the complex knit patten can be modified and adjusted to the ideal structure which satisfies engineering and design.
The ankle cushion provides soft touch for ankle and enables slip-on function without shoelace.
Print-knit Upper
Inspired by knitting in textiles, the upper of the shoe features a unique style which looks and feels just like fabrics. Knit textile usually has a special property, that is, if it’s easy to stretch in the horizontal direction, then it’s hard to stretch from vertical direction. In general, the knit textile is stretchable in one direction, while stable in the direction across.
By using such knit structure, the upper of the shoe will wrap tightly around the foot in horizontal direction. And vertically, the structure is flexible enough for foot to fit-in the shoe. In this way, the upper is no need for shoelace anymore.
The material is 3D printed, so even the most complex knit structure can be fabricated.
Dynamic Sole
Mesh+ enables a fast prototyping modeling approach where the hexagon meshes can be divided and arranged according to defined zones. By adjusting the parameter of UV grid and scale, the structure around toe and heel areas are naturally designed to be thinner than others.
The defined areas can be easily changed and remapped with foot pressure map, which will generate a modular sole with support and comfort balanced structure.
Fabrication
By using plug-in like Weaverbird, Mesh+, and LunchBox in Grasshopper, the discussion of forms can be done in real-time on 3D models with thousands of solutions. Parametric design not only generates forms faster, but also explores possibility without limit.
The fabrication process become efficient with the help of 3D printers. TPU is light-weight, water-proof, as soft as fiber, and it will automatically maintain the shape once printed. Moreover, this material is 100% recyclable. The price of 3D printing TPU has dramatically dropped and it only cost $5 to print a pair of shoes. The printing time depends on the structure design, and usually takes 8-14 hours.
Impact
+ Recyclable material enables reproduction for more frequently changing feet conditions.
+ By combining parametric computation and digital fabrication, We| aver+ illustrate the huge potential and infinite possibility of customized, sustainable, and healthier children's shoes.
+ We|aver+ cares for the growing pains, outfitting customized support to not only eliminate foot pains and worries, but also add styles, mobility, and happiness.
+ Everyone grows from a child into a human step by step, we want to ensure that every step of the child can be healthy and happy through humanity-centered design.