It will analyze how far my knees point away from each other and how the swing of my hips affects my knees. A running fanatic, I am intrigued that a machine could know my gait better than I do.
This biomechanical assessment, part of a service and philosophy that Brooks calls Run Signature, has long been in use by the company to help guide its customers to the best-fitting shoe in its arsenal. But the options so far have been limited to what Brooks can sell off the shelf.
Now Brooks, the top brand in specialty running with 25 percent of the shoe market, according to the NPD Group, wants to take that a step further. The company is working with tech stalwart HP to marry a runner’s gait information with a three-dimensional foot scan generated by HP’s new FitStation device. HP’s technology can measure pressure along the foot as it lands in each stride. The data help Brooks determine how much polyurethane to inject in a shoe’s sole to achieve the right density for as many as 30 zones of your foot.
At a time when Adidas, Nike and other sportswear companies limit footwear customization to color and material, Berkshire Hathaway-owned Brooks seeks to create running shoes with customized performance elements as well as build data-rich digital customer profiles.
“Everyone is fighting commoditization,” says Brooks CEO Jim Weber. “It’s a shoe for you. It does exactly what you need it to do.”
