AsianScientist (Mar. 8, 2012) – A joint venture between RMIT University and Japan’s Mizuno Corporation is applying the emotions of runners to develop the next-generation personalized running shoe.
Mizuno has been manufacturing sporting goods for a century and was the exclusive supplier for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Together with researchers from the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at RMIT, the partners believe the research could change forever how sporting products are developed, marketed, and sold.
Led by Professor Aleksandar Subic, Project Leader and Head of School, the team is using a user-centered design approach known as “Kansei engineering,” developed by a Japanese professor in the 1970s, to develop the shoes.
In English, Kansei engineering means affective engineering.
“Using Kansei engineering we identify the needs and emotions of runners and relate these to the technical attributes of a perfectly customized shoe,” he said.
“Biomechanical requirements vary from athlete to athlete, so to make the best shoes for the individual we have to understand their mental state and translate it into product properties.”
Subic said the research aimed to quantify and relate performance attributes such as shock absorption, stiffness, and durability to the particular feel experienced by the runner.’
The researchers are two years into the three-year project, which will finish at the end of this year at a cost of AU$500,000. As part of the project, RMIT has undertaken a comprehensive series of tests and surveys involving 750 runners world-wide.
“From this we can develop a technology platform for the design and manufacture of next-generation running shoes,” he said.
“The digital design of the individual product will be available for immediate transfer to rapid additive manufacture of the personalised running shoe.”
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Source: RMIT; Photo: Mizuno Corporation.
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