The ergonomics of shoes: from qualitative analysis to scientific method

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Wellbeing, comfort and safety in outdoor shoes have always been based on parameters that vary from person to person (male, female, weight, build, etc.). The aim of the project is to go beyond this subjective approach by taking a merely qualitative analysis to higher scientific level. Trade people and consumers (excursionists, sports people, etc.) will be able to benefit from sure and reliable criteria. For companies, this will provide more know-how when designing and producing outdoor footwear, while consumers will be more knowledgeable about product features. All this becomes particularly important in the program area, where outdoor shoes are used in a great many activities not just in sports (such as mountain rescue work) and where there are many companies in the sector. Comfortable footwear makes for safe footwear: this reduces the consequences of any accidents and therefore social costs. The partners will be involved in – according to their specific know-how – collecting field data, prototyping any sensorized devices, and comparing real and scientific data, thus developing a standard method.

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