Wiivv Wearables combines an innovative smart phone app and 3D Systems sPro 60 SLS printers to rapidly deliver custom shoe soles

When Shamil Hargovan, co-founder and CEO of Wiivv Wearables Inc., talks about locally made footwear crafted for the individual customer in a shop containing little or no inventory, he is not sinking into nostalgia or describing a hipster store in Brooklyn – he is describing his business plan.

Wiivv is at the forefront of mass customization, a long-sought methodology for delivering highly personalized products at costs similar to mass manufacturing.

Wiivv enables customers to use a smart phone app to take pictures of their feet, generating up to 200 data points. The company then uses proprietary and commercial image processing techniques to prepare data for 3D printing of individualized athletic shoe insoles. As of early 2017, Wiivv is producing tens of thousands of customized insoles a year.

The latest innovation from Wiivv is a custom-fitted sandal with individualized arch supports produced by a 3D Systems sPro™ 60 SLS printer. The arch support is integrated into a conventionally manufactured foot bed, which is made using proprietary, 100-percent recyclable foam.