Natural Language Inputs in 3D Printed Footwear Components

Last year, a capstone team worked with adidas on their line of 3D printed mid-soles. This year's team continued their work to create an understanding of common language used by running footwear consumers and translate this language into the engineering space. The team gathered information about language use from athlete-consumers directly and linked this language to commonly 'found' objects (i.e.: sponges, foam rollers, bouncy balls). The team then designed and printed sample pucks around these consumer findings that are able to be stepped onto to mimic the midsole of a shoe. The capstone team used a software program to change aspects of the shoe, then printed (using UW's Carbon DLS printer) and tested the designs.

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