
When Shoes Were Fit with X-Rays - toufiqbarhamov
https://daily.jstor.org/when-shoes-were-fit-with-x-rays/
======
jacquesm
The Chinese would check for 'illegal' pregnancies during the days of the one-
child policy. They would use a solid state x-ray emitter as a source of
radiation and a passive fluorescent screen, both probably because there was no
reliable electrical power available and this is a very cheap to manufacture
setup. The dose emitted would be quite high due to the insensitivity of the
screen, the degradation over time of the source (requiring a higher than
necessary quantity of radioactive material at the start to get a long useful
operating life) and the duration, on the order of seconds.

I've tried to find a video of this but alas, no luck. The one I remember
seeing was extremely primitive, safety was basically non-existent, both for
the woman being screened (and her unborn child, quite possibly to be aborted
anyway if detected) and the operator of the device.

------
iforgotpassword
Boy, people were _careless and stupid_ back then.

I wonder how many things we do today will be seen in a similar way 50 years
from now. If you believe everything you read somewhere online, then pretty
much anything today is poisonous and will kill us, but just statistically some
of these have to be right.

~~~
icefo
I'm betting for our carelessness towards endocrine disruptors. The toxic
plastics in baby bottles and the non stick frying pans for example

~~~
gaius
The synthetic hormones in The Pill don’t break down either, they are steadily
accumulating in the drinking water supply.

------
userbinator
_They were designed to look like furniture, not medical objects. One on view
at Chicago’s International Museum of Surgical Science has floral cut-outs in
its wooden cabinet, giving it the look of an heirloom chest._

A lot of late 19/early 20th century equipment is like that. Wood was a common
material and ornate design was simply a way to show off craftsmanship.

------
dammitcoetzee
Could we actually do this in a safe way? Having ill fitting shoes can cause a
lot of long term damage. There could be a case that it's worth the X-ray
risk...

~~~
ummonk
You only need to map the surface. Just use milimeter wave scanners (the kind
used by the TSA).

~~~
CydeWeys
Or basic 3D stereographic techniques or LIDAR. Visible light suffices here;
just rotate the camera/laser around the feet and build up the 3D model.

This may be mostly irrelevant though because unless you have problems with
your feet you can tell if shoes fit simply by the feel.

~~~
grahn
It's still very relevant for a couple of reasons.

Perhaps most obviously, you just can't try a shoe on if you buy online. You
can if you buy five pairs and return four, as some do, but it's a lot of
hassle and a waste of resources for all the shipping back and forth.

Secondly, a significant portion of the population (tens of precent) have
"problems" enough that most shoes in a store don't fit, meaning you have to
try on a lot before you find one that does. And even if you don't have such
issues, sizing between brands (and even styles) is so inconsistent that you
usually have to try multiple different sizes to decide which one fits you.
Having a 3D model paired with an AI system that tells you which shoes fit and
what sizes to pick saves a lot of time for a lot of people, both shoppers and
staff.

Finally, if you ever want to order custom made footwear, there is really no
way around measuring your feet. And arguably the only reliably well-defined
and repeatable way of doing that is to do a 3D scan to capture the shape.

~~~
skookumchuck
My aunt would knit socks for me as a kid. I'd stand on a sheet of paper and my
mom would draw the outline of my foot, and mail her the sheet. Worked great!

~~~
grahn
That method is actually used by many shoemakers when you order a pair of
bespoke shoes (in combination with a series of tape measurements). It's not
accurate enough to produce a fitting shoe in a single attempt, however, so
what usually happens is they make a "test shoe" based the measurements and
drawing, then modify the last after having you try that on. This procedure can
be repeated more than once if needed.

Knitted socks are quite a lot more forgiving than leather shoes, fortunately,
since the material accommodates by stretching when you put it on. I'm not
surprised it worked well for you and your aunt!

~~~
improbable22
Thanks this is interesting. Is part of the problem that people's feet change
size with weight?

I have the impression that this is half the battle with finding shoes myself.
Probably the bones are the same size left and right, but I think they deform
differently as I stand (or walk) in a way that depends on the contours of the
shoe... and that sounds like a problem that would be hard to model with laser
scanning or whatever.

~~~
grahn
You're right that the feet deform significantly when you stand on them. For
that reason you usually measure them load-bearing (i.e. you stand up with even
weight distribution on your feet).

I think it's more likely that it's the deformation of the shoe that is uneven
than that the shoe affects the deformation of the foot much. An exception
would be if it has a built-up sole with support for the arches, preventing the
arches from collapsing.

Either way, it's a complex process that is hard to model, just like you say.
The way we're getting around it is by collecting various data on what people
end up liking and then infer the properties of the shoe, rather than trying to
explicitly model it. So the solution is a combination of 3D scanning and
machine learning.

Also worth mentioning, by the way: most people actually have slightly
different size and shape on their left vs. right foot. For about 50% of the
population the length differs by more than half a US size. Being perfectly
symmetrical is the rare case.

------
dsego
I have problems ordering shoes online and getting the fit right. Depending on
brand and type of shoe, I can be anywhere between 44 and 46. And then the US
and EU size and cm don't match up, my Onitsuka are 11-45-28.5 and fit exactly
the same as Chucks, which are 11-44.5-29. But cycling shoes are the worst, and
I have to buy those online, because local bike shops don't offer a huge
choice. Had to return a pair of Giro two times, first size 45, then 45.5 and
46 was the one that fit. We need more standardized sizing, but how to get all
manufacturers on board? And how about a 3D foot scanner and online filters
which pick the correct size based on your 3d foot model?

~~~
TaylorAlexander
Phones with depth sensors could be helpful here. It’s actually possible to do
photogrammetry with just the camera, but the depth sensors make it easier and
more reliable.

What I’d really like though is a machine that can construct a good shoe
specifically for your foot in a reasonable amount of time. Even if it took a
week, I might be willing to wait for that for custom fit shoes (as I do for
new glasses for example).

Generally I could build this machine and would really like to, but I haven’t
found a good idea on materials. If you could make them from recycled bottles
and natural fibers it would be interesting too. Or maybe a totally woven shoe?
Does anyone have any YouTube links or similar on unique ways to make shoes
that could be done in a machine of some limited cost and complexity?

~~~
grahn
Technologies for mass scale customisation is being developed by several big
players in the market. However, also consider that there are already hundreds
of thousands of different shoe styles in the market, so finding a pair of
perfectly fitting shoes can to a large degree be considered a search problem
rather than a customisation problem. With appropriate 3D scanning technology,
this can be done today.

Disclosure: I work for a technology provider in this field.

~~~
TaylorAlexander
Lately I’ve been thinking about the connection between markets and “othering”.
I’m wondering if distributed manufacturing can help, and interested in DIY
“micro factories” that can be made in a small shop using 3D printers and basic
hand tools.

So it’s a different approach. Basically I’m starting to make better and better
robots with my 3D printers and I want to make open source factories with the
tech. :)

------
ummonk
Is there no service that uses automation to make custom-fitted shoes yet? This
seemed like such an obvious thing to me several years ago when 3d printing and
the like started becoming a fad, and I figured there would be a startup that
did it (or one of the big companies would work on it). But if anyone is doing
it, I as a consumer haven't noticed yet. What gives?

I can't see cost being an issue - when you look at how shoe construction
works, it should be straightforward to tweak the shoe shape for each shoe
without significant increase in manufacturing cost.

~~~
grahn
Several well-known brands are working on this in various ways. Adidas has a
cooperation with Carbon 3D to produce individualised soles for shoes you
order, as one example[1]. Robotic knitting is another area I know some players
are working on, for making custom uppers. You'll likely see offerings for
customised footwear based on these technologies appear on the market in the
next couple of years.

I'd expect it to take a number of years before the manufacturing processes
have matured and evolved enough to get the price points down to the level that
most people would consider an option when buying footwear, though.

[1]
[https://www.carbon3d.com/stories/adidas/](https://www.carbon3d.com/stories/adidas/)

------
ggm
Was in my local shoeshop in the sixties. Have used. Was removed pretty soon
after I used it.

------
dmitrybrant
A name like "Pedoscope Company" would certainly raise a few eyebrows today!

