The First Fully Athlete Data-Coded Shoe

On Friday Adidas released STRUNG, the first fully athlete data-coded shoe technology. It was created by FUTURECRAFT, Adidas’ incubator for innovation and technology, who attempt to discover “what’s next” in sport and wider culture.

The goal was to create a shoe that utilises every possible direction of yarn beyond what existing manufacturing methods are capable of, and therefore maximise athletes’ performances. The first concept shoe was created for short-distance training runs at 5m/s or faster. According to Adidas:

“The upper has a lightweight cocooned feel and fit, locking the heel to prevent slip, with stiffer and stronger red threads placed at the midfoot, toe-box, and heel (where the foot needs support), and suppler yellow threads in the forefoot for flexibility. These threads blend each of those features together within the material to provide precise fit and support through the gait cycle.”

Coupled with Adidas’ 4D midsole, STRUNG could symbolise the future of personalisation, with ever-growing athlete data and AI to create the ‘perfect shoe’ tailored to individual athletes. A computer would simply need to know what the desired output should be, for example ‘a super light but stable track shoe’ or ‘a shoes that reduces energy wastage in the toes’. And then with rules to measure success it would get down to business, modelling all possible alternatives for the The FUTURECRAFT STRUNG robot to weave. Pretty cool right?

In summary Adidas said “STRUNG is a milestone that has the potential to transform the way athletes work with designers, engineers and sports scientists. The ultimate aim is for it to be a cross-category platform that serves multiple sports. We’ve started with running but that’s just the beginning. We want this to be the most data-informed textile (based on foot anatomy and athlete movement), and we’re planning to make the first shoe available late 2021/early 2022.”