3D Printed Nike Shoes Soon To Be Printed At Own Homes, Nike COO Says Technology 'Not That Far Away'

3D Printed Nike Shoes could soon be done at the comforts of your own home as Nike's COO said that the technology for doing so is within reach.

Nowadays, almost every popular manufacturer is doing everything to bring 3D printing technology available to the masses; however, according to Quartz, it has yet to fulfil its hype of becoming the future of manufacturing.

Speaking about the potential of utilizing 3D printing on Nike shoes, Nike COO Eric Sprunk recently attended a summit held by GeekWire in which he talked about the innovation in Nike's Flyknit technology and what it can do about the way sneakers are made in the future.

And based on what the American sports brand are currently doing with the Flyknit, Sprunk said that the luxury of 3D printing a pair of sneakers at home is close at hand.

According to Fortune, the process involves customers designing their shoes online, purchase a file that contains the instructions for the 3D printer and then, print it at home or bring it to a Nike store to be printed and have their customized shoes within hours.

When asked about the technology's possibility, Sprunk said, "Oh yeah, that's not that far away."

However, there are still a couple of road blocks that Nike has to resolve before proceeding. First, it's not exactly common or affordable for customers to purchase their own 3D printers; second, the technology for printing the sneaker sole does not exist yet.

However, as reported by Digital Trends, it seems that a different sneaker company is closer to solving that second problem. Adidas recently announced its partnership with 3D printing software provider Materialize to introduce the Futurecraft 3D, a running shoe containing a 3D printed midsole that is customized to the user's foot.

But Adidas is still on its early stages and said that the "Futurecraft 3D is a prototype and a statement of intent." However, Adidas promised that more collaborations related to this concept will be unveiled within the next six months.

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