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They’re kicking it new school.
A 3D-printed shoe designed by artificial intelligence is hitting the market today, and the futuristic footwear is first of its kind to be commercially available to the general public, its creators claim.
Syntilay CEO Ben Weiss, 25, and Reebok co-founder Joe Foster, 89, who have partnered on the high-tech venture, told USA Today that 70% of the custom-fit shoe’s design — which was crafted to look like the bridge of a yacht — was created by AI technology.
“We think it’s going to be a big trend, likely for other types of fashion-apparel products,” Weiss said of integrating AI. “It’s a much more efficient way to design things.”
The design team drew inspiration from spaceships and boats, Weiss told USA Today, and asked AI to incorporate the artwork of Syn Mead, the artist who worked on films like “Blade Runner” and “Aliens,” into the design of the shoe. The technology was also utilized to determine shading.
If they had used “traditional” design methods, Weiss noted, the slides “may have looked very different.”
The $149.99 slide — which comes in orange, red, beige, black and blue — is tailored to the wearer’s foot. According to the site, the customer is asked to scan their feet with their phone camera within two weeks of purchasing, after which they will have to wait approximately three weeks for their kicks, individually printed at a factory in Germany, to arrive.
“It went from the first stages of these concepts, generating the artwork, then we had our designer make a sketch based on that, which saves a lot of time because you know exactly where you want to be at. Then the team used AI to generate a 3D model from the sketch,” Weiss explained.
“It’s supposed to be the best fit you can possibly get.”
According to USA Today, Syntilay relied on remote work to fuel the popularity of their product, deciding to first make slides.
“People are wearing slides all over the place,” Weiss said, adding that the team wanted the shoe to “have this classy, yet really futuristic feeling to it.”
“I think a lot of people will really enjoy wearing something that’s on the cutting edge on this.”
But Sneaker News editor-in-chief John Kim begs to differ.
He told USA Today that, although there’s “some short-term novel appeal” to AI in fashion, the larger community “ultimately cherishes the distinct human eye” in design. While some brands have incorporated artificial intelligence into design processes, Kim noted that “a 100% AI-designed sneaker has limited potential because it lacks the human essence and brand DNA.”
Syntilay, however, is only producing the footwear in limited quantities because of “how expensive they are to make and just the constraints with typical 3D printing where we are today,” explained Weiss, who is only expecting to produce a few thousand pairs.
“You’re not going to get volume, but you’re going to get history,” said Foster.
