Adidas just debuted¹ its newest shoe -- which has a 3D-printed sole. 

 

阿迪达斯日前亮出了它的最新款运动鞋，这款鞋的鞋底是3D打印出来的。
 

 

The German company said 5,000 of the "Futurecraft 4D" shoes will be available at retail² stores in the fall and winter. It plans to start mass producing them next year and expects to have made more than 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018. The company would not disclose where the shoes will be manufactured. 

 

Adidas (ADDDF) partnered with Silicon³ Valley-based startup Carbon to create the shoe, which uses a new technology called digital light synthesis. 

 

3D printed materials are often rigid⁴ or malleable⁵ and wouldn't work well for a shoe. But with Carbon's technology, the material is springy and able to bounce back almost instantaneously. 

 

The technology works by using UV lasers to project a pattern for a midsole liquid. The light turns the liquid into a solid and the result is a flexible, but durable⁶, midsole. 

 

The technology could save time and money in the production process and will allow for greater customization. 

 

"We can produce ... up to 100 times faster than other 3D printing and additive⁷ manufacturing processes," an Adidas spokesperson told CNNTech.

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