During the whole period of the project we have been focusing on the design and implementation of the software cloud platform, which will enable using low cost 3D scanning hardware and will provide high accuracy 3D models of scanned objects. We have been focusing in two market segments where mass customization of the products will have the biggest commercial potential in the near future:
Footwear
Recent anthropometric studies of human feet have shown large variation of foot shapes and proportions. Ill-fitting shoes are causing irreversible foot injuries therefore it’s very important that the shoes fit in shape and size. Latest developments in shoe production technologies (3D printing and robotic knitting) will make the fit customization commercially accessible to large number of customers. Having precise information about customers’ feet shapes and dimensions will play an important part of this process.
Eyewear
Ill-fitting glasses are causing various discomforts like slipping glasses, pain of the bridge of the nose, ears and temples. 3D printing technology has made the shape customization commercially available.
As the first part of WP4 – Platform, which is the technical core of the project, we have developed a platform accuracy based on a controlled hardware setup for each segment. For foot scanning 3D depth cameras were used to capture 3D surface of both feet. For face scanning RGB cameras were used to capture the frontal part of the head. Two separate controlled hardware setups have been used since the accuracy and ergonomics requirements are very different for scanning feet and faces.
By the end of the project Volumental instore foot scanners have been installed on 5 continents. Additional scanners are being produced, in 3 months more than 400 scanners will be installed in 31 countries.
Volumental instore scanners have shown to be a very profitable exploitable result of the project. What is even more important for Volumental is that the scanners are collecting large amount of foot data on 5 continents, which will be exploitable in two directions:
- Food data are extremely valuable for footwear brands. They are very interested in these data to be able to develop footwear, which will fit to specific foot types, shapes and dimensions of each market
- 3D data will be very valuable for developing a simple mobile scanning solution, which will be using only RGB cameras of smart phones
