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mass customization is only slowly gaining ground in industries such as automobiles, and usually only with cosmetic choices like the color of seats. a number of shoe manufacturers have interfaces for customers to select colors and styles, but use standard forms that compromise fit. unfortunately not all countries have craftspeople cabable of custom shoe-making, in fact the united states completely lost its shoe production capacity when industry decided to out-source all production fifteen years ago. today one US company - otabo - is attempting another solution: automating the shoe-making process for high-quality shoes through sophisticated software. from top, a laser scan of each of your feet is used to sculpt a custom last and generate designs which are cut by numerically-controlled cutters and stitched by robotic sewing machines. even the shank is custom-fabricated using fiberglass, which is stronger and lighter than steel. impressive, although it makes me wonder if cobblers couldn’t do the same with a much cheaper investment.
. Leo is a artist, inventor and all around practical person in the Tangible Media Group at the Media Lab. He has a background in sculpture, architecture and industrial design as well as an MS from the Media Lab spent working on the kitchen of the future. He is on a search for truth.
