The boots were designed and produced by PEAK Sport Products, the Chinese company responsible for the 3D printed “Future” sneakers released earlier this year. Describing the basketball shoes as the first-ever wearable 3D printed basketball boots, PEAK introduced them last week at the 2017 PEAK China Tour and Dwight Howard III Press Conference. Howard, for whom the Dwight Howard III 3D Basketball Boots have been named, is impressed.
“This pair of boots has obviously higher performance than traditional ones,” he said. “I felt that the 3D printed soles and vamp side walls enable a more comfortable wearing experience. Maybe, one day in the future, you’ll see me wearing the 3D printed basketball boots, footwear designed based on R&D carried out by PEAK, during an NBA competition.”
There’s also no word on whether the 3D printed basketball boots will be available on the market, or how much they might cost, but new types of athletic shoes such as these often tend to be rolled out to professional athletes first before becoming available on the wider market at a later time. It could be a while before we see these particular shoes in stores, but the frequency at which 3D printed athletic shoes are being introduced these days bodes well for them soon becoming more accessible to the average person. Adidas recently announced the production of partially 3D printed running shoes at scale, a first for an industry that has thus far only produced 3D printed shoes in very limited release.
PEAK is just getting started, too. The company plans to use 3D printing for many more athletic products in the future.
“As a new prototyping and processing technology, 3D printing is of great significance to Chinese sports brands and the country’s Made in China 2025 strategy,” said Xu Zhihua, General Manager of PEAK Sport. “Our goal is to transform PEAK into the world’s leading professional sports brand through continuous innovation and ongoing expansion into international markets.”
So keep an eye out for 3D printed PEAK products in the future – if not on your local store shelves just yet, at least on NBA basketball courts and in other professional sports settings. Discuss in the PEAK forum at 3DPB.com.
[Images: PEAK Sport Products]