- Joined
- Sep 14, 2016
- Posts
- 109
Neat. I looked into this further, and you've got two options with the Ertl-Renz system: (1) scan your foot, and have the retailer use that scan to match your foot to what they stock; (2) have Ertl-Renz make you a custom shell, in Germany, based on that scan (that's the process pictured at the end with the wooden molds).There’s also the corpus.e 3D scanner from Germany.
Gorsuch have installed this system in their shops at Vail, Beaver Creek, Park City and Aspen.
The limitation with #1 for the customer is that, for the scan system to truly provide utility, you'd want it to be able to find you the optimum fit candidates from the entire universe of production boots; if it can only search within what the store carries, it doesn't seem like it's very helpful, since if you're in the store you can just do the more direct test of trying the boots on. Granted, it might speed up to process by helping the bootfitter to identify the best candidates more quickly, but I would think a skilled fitter than knows his/her stock would be able to do that anyways.
Where this would be *really* useful would be with plug boots, since those are the ones retailers are least likely to stock, and are thus hardest to try on (at least if you're not training at Mt. Hood in the summer). At the same time, those are the boots least likely to be included in such a database.
It will soon be possible to use your Smartphone to make 3D scans of your feet, this device looks like it might do the job.
Doesn't look like this would work for the foot, since it seems it would require you to stand on a rotating turntable, and the one they supply is not going to support a person. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to make a commercial version that could do this.
Last edited: