14 DAY TRIAL // Footwear isn't exactly something overly simple to make, given the difference between stitching a tear in fabric and actually building something solid, with inner cavity and everything. 3D printing has made everything significantly simpler, however.
3D printing technology has made a lot of things easier. And in some cases, it made certain things possible. Like customize car parts, turtle-shaped car frame, 3D printed homes that can be built from concrete in a day, etc.
Compared to that list, shoes may sound like something minor. However, they really aren't considering that everyone wears them. Well, maybe not some countries, but still.
There's another thing: the fact that the media, and normal people even are gushing over 3D printed shoes means that certain barriers regarding materials and color have been surmounted.
Sure enough, the pair introduced by Michele Badia, of MyMiniFactory, are both flexible and colorful. Green with yellow laces, or, really, belts.
The cool thing about them is that you don't necessarily have to stick to one or two colors. You see, the shoe itself needs to be made in a single session, and the laces added later.
Most 3D printers only have one filament extruder, so you're limited to just one color (green in this instance), meaning that the second color, for contrast, falls solely to the “laces.”
But if you have one of those expensive multi-extruder printers, or any model with a more sophisticated nozzle, or something with Color Mixing Technology or a variation thereof, you've struck gold.
You see, 3D models are what ultimately decide what your printer makes. As long as the build volume is large enough, and you use NinjaFlex filament, you can use any 3D printer to make these shoes.
So you could, in theory, make yourself rainbow-colored footwear, if you've the patience and interest in adjusting the color input and everything.
It's pretty ironic, really, that the new shoes get most of their attention just for being, well, shoes, and not the the NinjaFlex material. They're actually supposed to be a means to advertise the filament itself.
Not that we expect things to go normally in this field, not anymore. It's already been established that 3D printing feats sneak up on you and alter perception based on things other than the elements that the inventors see as more important. Well, usually.
The shoes in the picture above are meant for day to day use and can be ordered for $49 / €49 if you don't have a 3D printer of your own, or NinjaFlex material, to make them yourself.