Jan 6, 2016 | By Kira
After a year of intense R&D and 72 product iterations, Wiivv is finally ready to release its flagship, 3D printed, body-perfect insole onto the world. BASE, a fully customized and biomechanically optimized 3D printed insole that you can order directly through your smartphone, is now available on Kickstarter—and it’s just the beginning of a suite of on-demand, custom-made, full-body 3D printed wearables Wiivv hopes to launch in the near future.
Our first whiff of Wiivv came in early 2015, when the Vancouver, Canada-based company began developing their product, and received its first venture capital investment from Evonik. Not long thereafter, the company secured a whopping $3.5 million in funding, and revealed that beyond 3D printed footwear, they had developed a proprietary Adaptive Manufacturing System that could be applied to any part of the human body in order to create accurate, biomechanically enhanced 3D printed wearables.
Starting from the ground-up, Wiivv’s first mobile-read consumer product focuses on solving common foot pain, alignment issues, and increasing comfort for wearers from all walks of life—be they athletes or desk jockeys—at a much more affordable price than traditional corrective orthotics, which must be prescribed by specialists and can cost upwards of hundreds of dollars.
Designed through collaboration with biomechanics experts in the fields of sports medicine, orthotics and pedorthics, the patent-pending design of the BASE 3D printed insole works to ensure biomechanical neutrality, lessening pressure on the forefoot and increasing stability and promoting healthy alignment.
The custom fit—captured by each individual user themselves by taking photos of their feet using their smartphones and sending them into Wiivv’s proprietary customization engine—ensures that each insole follows the person’s unique arch, reducing the kind of foot fatigue and pain that is often caused by improper support in regular shoes.
“BASE by Wiivv is a body-perfect insole for people that work, play and lead active lives on their feet. Having worked with hundreds of first responders, filmmakers, weekend warriors and hospitality workers, we know that we are making a profound difference in their daily lives,” said Shamil Hargovan, CEO & Co-Founder, Wiivv. As an exciting side-note, Hargovan (27) and co-founder Louis-Victor Jadavji (22) were recently recognized in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in the Manufacturing & Industry category, showing that the market is certainly taking note of their innovative and ambitious technological offerings.
It’s one thing to promote the benefits of such a product, and another entirely to prove them, yet even in this regard, Wiivv has proven that they’ve done their homework, and initial reviews from industry experts and overwhelmingly positive.
A third-party kinematic analysis even found the BASE custom 3D printed insoles to “significantly reduce joint load of the knee and hip at 30 percent gait cycle”, according to Geoffrey Desmoulin, MSc, MS, PhD and President of GTD Engineering. “This may translate to reduced injuries and increase performance in activities requiring endurance.”
“Every foot is totally different. Off-the-shelf inserts cannot account for that,” added Christian Johannsen, Certified Pedorthics, Foot Solutions Vancouver. “Wiivv has taken this a step further with custom insoles that you can capture using a smart phone in your living room.” The company's website and Kickstarter are also chock-full of positive reviews from BASE wearers, who range from physiotherapists to ultra-marathon runners.
3D scanning and 3D printing technologies have been key in enabling the company to mass customize these products while maintaining quick production times and affordable prices, and now they are ready to showcase this to the consumer market.
Wiivv’s first-ever Kickstarter campaign officially launched today, with a funding goal of $50,000 USD that will go towards manufacturing and fulfillment of BASE 3D printed insoles, which the company promises will begin shipping within mere days of the successful completion of the campaign. Wiivv has partnered with 3D Systems to manufacture the insoles using their precision SLS 3D printing technology at Wiivv’s San Diego facility.
Early bird backers can pledge now to receive their own customized 3D printed insoles for as little as $50 (as of this writing, exactly half of those rewards are still available), with the next rewards available for $60 and then $100 (for two pairs). The actual retail price will be $75 per 3D printed insole. Backers will also receive the Wiivv app (currently only available for iOS), which is the starting point to creating their own BASE insoles. The app features a few intuitive steps, as well as several swanky design options. Once ordered, BASE customers will receive their customized insoles in the mail, along with a usage guide and a foot massage ball for the ultimate foot-pampering treat.
The Wiivv Kickstarter campaign has already raised more than $23,000, and though there is still an entire month to go, it seems as though they are on a good start to success. Of course, this is just the start, as with its Adaptive Manufacturing System, which can be applied to any part of the human body, Wiivv plans to kickstart its own line of on-demand, customized 3D printed wearables.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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