Artificial intelligence (AI) after transforming several industries, it has now entered the world of footwear and revolutionising the much-loved sneakers. AI is not just assisting manufacturers in bringing a new sneaker at a faster pace but also is helping them detect the fake copies that are present in the market and eats up a big share of the original manufacturers.
In this article, let’s look at the roles AI is playing to uplift and modernise the sneaker market.
Design and Fit
Designing of any sneaker requires to be sublime since the attention and sales are dependent on how good a sneaker looks on an individual. Although taste is subjective and differences of choices is another story, sneakers have to look good for anyone to buy them. More importantly, the fitting of the shoes matters the most. Keeping this aspect in mind, Nike has introduced a foot-scanning solution, which is designed to find a person’s best fit and goes by the name Nike Fit.
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The solution uses a combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and recommendation algorithms to find the right fit for an individual. By using a number of data points, measurements are sent to the machine learning model, which takes into account the silhouette and the material used to adjust the comfort. Moving on, this data is added with AI capabilities to curate individual’s personal fit.
Shoe — The Coach
Shoes are soon going to coach an individual on how to run. A company called Runvi is on the verge of bringing in shoes that can coach an individual on how to run properly. Powered by artificial intelligence, these shoes contain a total of 30 pressure points in its two sholes and an accelerator that collects data on how an individual runs. The shoes consist of a brain known as the Core, which powers the sensors and stores the data before sending it to an individual’s smartphone.
Once the data gets collected, the app begins coaching the individual by showing various data after running or by giving tips before the run begins by analysing historical data of an individual’s running style.
Printed, Not Stitched
Recently, American sports apparel giant Under Armour teamed up with AutoDesk to come up with a unique sneaker, which was printed and not stitched. Under Armour created a sneaker that is durable, comfortable and lightweight with the use of additive or 3D printing. The company used a lattice structure to support the midsole, and once the concept was finalised, Autodesk came into play with its artificial intelligence machine program, which is used to test new designs. The AI calculates everything from the durability of the sneakers to how the final product would look like. With a green signal from Autodesk’s program, the sneaker is sent to 3D printing.
Verifying Originality
With the number of counterfeits throwing a massive blow on the original manufacturers, it was time to find a way of dealing with counterfeits of brands like Adidas, Nike, Puma and more. Entering the scenario a technology provided Entrupy with its solution Legit Check Tech, a device, which uses AI to detect if a pair of sneakers is original or counterfeit. The device is equipped with eight cameras from different angles. Once a shoe is put inside the device, it clicks pictures from different angles. On the other hand, a user needs to download the corresponding app for the device, where the photos get uploaded automatically after pairing. The photos are analysed using artificial intelligence, which detects the tag number of the shoe that is available in the manufacturer’s database. The counterfeits are caught since they do not consist of the correct number present in the manufacturer’s database.
Business Growth
The fashion market is continuously growing with the development of new pairs every day, it is imperative for managers to integrate AI to drive business growth. Due to this reason, several big brands are combining AI and deep expertise of people from the section of marketing to reach an effective solution. AI technology has witnessed a massive increase, and the industry is finally looking for tailored solutions with tech teams coming forward to tackle different domains.
