A smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized, wherein the smartphone device is configured to actively control the configuration of one or more bladders, compartments, chambers or internal sipes and one or more sensors located in either one or both of a sole or a removable inner sole insert of the footwear of the user and/or located in an apparatus worn or carried by the user, glued unto the user, or implanted in the user. The one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, or sipes, and one or more sensors are configured for computer control. A sole and/or a removable inner sole insert for footwear, including one or more bladders, compartments, chambers, internal sipes and sensors in the sole and/or in a removable insert; or on an insole; all being configured for control by a smartphone or other mobile computer device, general purpose or specialized.

A shoe form manufacturing assistance apparatus includes: a receiving unit that receives information about a shoe of a user; a calculation unit that selects, based on the information received by the receiving unit, at least one type of a shoe form model from a plurality of types of shoe form models that are different from each other in terms of manufacturing method, and calculates manufacture data for a shoe form in accordance with the at least one type of the shoe form model that is selected; and an output unit that outputs the manufacture data calculated by the calculation unit.

A tool path for treating a shoe upper may be generated to treat substantially only the surface of the shoe bounded by a bite line. The bite line may be defined to correspond to the junction of the shoe upper and a shoe bottom unit. Bite line data and three-dimensional profile data representing at least a portion of a surface of a shoe upper bounded by a bite line may be utilized in combination to generate a tool path for processing the surface of the upper, such as automated application of adhesive to the surface of a lasted upper bounded by a bite line.

Manufacturing and assembly of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by automated placement and assembly of shoe parts. For example, a part-recognition system analyzes an image of a shoe part to identify the part and determine a location of the part. Once the part is identified and located, the part can be manipulated by an automated manufacturing tool.

Manufacturing of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by automated placement of shoe parts. For example, a part-recognition system analyzes an image of a shoe part to identify the part and determine a location of the part. Once the part is identified and located, the part can be manipulated in an automated manner.

A tool path for treating a shoe upper may be generated to treat substantially only the surface of the shoe bounded by a bite line. The bite line may be defined to correspond to the junction of the shoe upper and a shoe bottom unit. Bite line data and three-dimensional profile data representing at least a portion of a surface of a shoe upper bounded by a bite line may be utilized in combination to generate a tool path for processing the surface of the upper, such as automated application of adhesive to the surface of a lasted upper bounded by a bite line.

A gaging apparatus and method for automation of a shoemaking process are provided for automating a shoemaking process. According to the method, the gaging apparatus obtains operation data according to the gaging process of drawing a gaging line on a boundary between the upper and the sole for shoe manufacturing, and generates trajectory data for the boundary based on the operation data. Based on the trajectory data, the gaging apparatus generates robot trajectory data for performing a buffing and bonding process after the gaging process and transmits it to a shoemaking robot.

A big data artificial intelligence computer system is used for medical care connecting to sensor-equipped smartphones of users of footwear. The footwear has smartphone-connected soles with sensors and configurable structures. The smartphone is also connected to sensors located on the users' body, including proximate to its center of gravity and/or on the head. The web and/or cloud-based computer system is configured to use the big data techniques of machine learning in a database compiled from millions of smartphones to perform operations on billions of data sets from the smartphones of the footwear users. The correlations found from the big data operations provide solutions to medical problems of the footwear users involving their body structure and/or function. The solutions are implemented by configuring the users' footwear soles, including active configuration, including during running and/or walking to optimize corrections to the structure and/or function of their bodies.

A tool path for treating a shoe upper may be generated to treat substantially only the surface of the shoe bounded by a bite line. The bite line may be defined to correspond to the junction of the shoe upper and a shoe bottom unit. Bite line data and three-dimensional profile data representing at least a portion of a surface of a shoe upper bounded by a bite line may be utilized in combination to generate a tool path for processing the surface of the upper, such as automated application of adhesive to the surface of a lasted upper bounded by a bite line.

Manufacturing and assembly of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by automated placement and assembly of shoe parts. For example, a part-recognition system analyzes an image of a shoe part to identify the part and determine a location of the part. Once the part is identified and located, the part can be manipulated by an automated manufacturing tool.