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Getting to the bottom of footwear customization

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Abstract

Footwear have been evaluated mostly using commercially available products, while some researchers have used custom shoes. Hence, the understanding of the effects of various parameters of a shoe is quite limited. The footbed simulator invented in recent years allows a range of parameters to be studied in quiet standing. It can be used to evaluate perceived feel and center of pressure changes to changes in heel height, seat length, material, wedge angle and toe spring. This paper is meant to show the value of the footbed simulator in terms of research and the actual production of shoes. A study performed with two heel heights, three combinations of seat length and material and three wedge angles showed that the perceived feel is closely related to the center of pressure. The results also show the optimum footbed has a significantly different perceived feel. Thus, the footbed simulator is an ideal way to generate custom footwear designs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China

    Thilina W. Weerasinghe & Ravindra S. Goonetilleke

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  1. Thilina W. Weerasinghe
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  2. Ravindra S. Goonetilleke
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Correspondence to Ravindra S. Goonetilleke.

Additional information

Ravindra Goonetilleke is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in human factors engineering in 1990. His main interests are cognitive engineering, culture-friendly product design and footwear customization.

Thilina Weerasinghe is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He obtained his B.Sc. (Eng) degree from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and a M.Phil. degree from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His main interests are product design.

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Weerasinghe, T.W., Goonetilleke, R.S. Getting to the bottom of footwear customization. J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng. 20, 310–322 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-011-5171-0

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