More than just shoes, the Amoeba Shoes would be a real second skin. This concept thought up by stylist Shamees Aden would be made by 3D bio-printing. Composed of proto-cells, these "living" shoes could adapt in real time to the activity of their wearer.
3D printing is the technology of all fantasies. While some hope to use it to help visually impaired children or revolutionize medicine, Shameed Aden sees in it the way to create the shoe of tomorrow. This London designer has indeed imagined a "living" shoe that could adapt to its wearer in real time. Named "Amoeba Shoe", this shoe would be precisely manufactured by 3D bio-printing. Composed of a synthetic bio-material, it would be able to regenerate during the night.
Shoes made of proto-cells
Shamees Aden developed this project with Professor Martin Hanczyc from the University of Southern Denmark. The latter is a specialist in proto-cells. Proto-cells are very basic molecules that sit on the boundary between living and non-living. By mixing several proto-cells, different properties can be obtained and programmed to adapt to variations in heat, light or pressure. Interviewed by the site Dezeen.com, Shamees Aden explained that "the cells have the ability to inflate and deflate in order to respond to the pressure placed on them. When you run on different types of terrain, the shoe will be able to inflate according to the pressure exerted with the foot and thus always offer optimal support to the runner".
The Ameoba Shoes would therefore be a real second skin in constant interaction with their environment and capable of adapting to it in real time. After wearing them, their user will have to immerse them in a tank containing living proto-cells in a liquid solution. The shoes will then repair themselves. However, this innovative and slightly wacky concept is only at the beginning of its realization. According to Shamees Aden, this type of shoe could become the norm in the 2050s.
