ELASTIUM – fully 3D printed shoes made of recycled foam

ELASTIUM – a startup from the United Arab Emirates, specializes in the production of footwear made entirely in 3D printing technology. The company announced the launch of the first fully printed footwear, using only recycled foam. ELASTIUM combines lattice structures and the most advanced materials used in the footwear industry to create unique and impossible to make footwear in a traditional way, and at the same time use sustainable production and ecological materials.

The ELASTIUM boots have a lattice structure and are made of low-density thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) foam. They are produced using our own 3D printing technology directly from granules. The footwear is soft and comfortable, providing cushioning and elasticity comparable to high-end sports shoes.

Other shoe manufacturers using 3D printing use non-foam materials such as light-cured resins that are difficult to recycle, while ELASTIUM uses light, soft and resilient foams based on recycled TPU. In addition, using lattice structures, it creates comfortable, efficient, durable and machine washable shoes. The company was founded in 2021 by engineer, inventor and technological entrepreneur Robert Karklinsh.

The “ELASTIUM-1” footwear design was first generated by AI, then refined and recreated in 3D by designers. Each pair of ELASTIUM shoes is printed to order, which eliminates the costs associated with traditional production, including many intermediate stages such as mold making, sewing, gluing, storage, etc. Thanks to the use of 3D printing technology, CO2 emissions are also reduced, which makes it more sustainable. Shoes can be recycled and the obtained material can be used to produce new ones.

The ELASTIUM-1 will be sold not only as a limited edition shoe, but also as a hundred NFT, which gives owners the right to re-order even after initial production is sold out. This represents one of the first real applications of the concept of digital ownership, as their owners become the de facto owners of the design, which they can resell, transferring digital assets to the physical realm.

The current ELASTIUM-1 model comes in twelve color options and 16 sizes with adjustable fit options and will be available as both a physical pair and NFT. Further models are currently under development and will be presented in 2023.

Source: www.elastium.io via www.voxelmatters.com
Photo: www.elastium.io (all rights reserved)