11
May 15

For Mothers’ Day, I gave my wife 3D printed shoes designed by our kids

3D Printed shoes, by LYF

Last month, I attended and displayed some of my wares at a 3D printing symposium. While there, I saw a presentation by Aly Khalifa about, among other things, Lyf Shoes.

He showed off some prototypes of the new footwear line he is developing: fully customizable, sustainable, recyclable, breathable, and about a dozen other buzzwords. The built-in tech is pretty impressive for something you walk on: Inside each pair of the Lyf betas is a small Arduino-based data logger, to help customize the fit and wear pattern of your shoes when you bring them back for an upgrade. Among all that, two details from the presentation stuck with me. One, 3D printed on-demand parts. And two, women’s styles.

With Mothers’ Day approaching, I was already on the lookout for something special for my wife that involved our kids’ artwork. So, the next day, I contacted Aly and the folks at DesignBox developing Lyf shoes. A week or so later, I scanned and sent them a handful of paintings by our two- and five-year-old.

They sent me back this rendering:
LYF-womens

On Saturday, my son and I drove downtown to DesignBox to pick up the real thing, his surprise for Mommy on Mothers’ Day.

You can read all about the technology and sustainable practices behind Lyf, and sign up to be a beta tester to get your own pair, at LyfShoes.com.


15
Apr 15

Getting ready for KansasFest


12
Apr 15

Sunday afternoons are the. Fucking. Worst.

Sunday afternoons are the. Fucking. Worst.


11
Apr 15

Just watched Kingsman. I will never hear “Free Bir…

Just watched Kingsman. I will never hear “Free Bird” the same way again.

Or “Pomp and Circumstance” for that matter.


09
Apr 15

RT @digg: Barcelona player kicks soccer ball 50 ya…

RT @digg: Barcelona player kicks soccer ball 50 yards into a basketball hoop: di.gg/1GQfWe2

Too bad he was offsides.


04
Apr 15

My favorite daily carry multitool? Steve Wozniak’s…

My favorite daily carry multitool? Steve Wozniak’s business card.

blog.stephengates.com/wp-content/upl…


02
Apr 15

Does Tim Cook know his new nickname is Big Gay?

Does Tim Cook know his new nickname is Big Gay?


31
Mar 15

http://t.co/s7wXbeWTFM

http://t.co/s7wXbeWTFM

CBc5WQUWQAAg2jC


29
Mar 15

Can anyone create a new X-Prize? I propose $1 mi…

Can anyone create a new X-Prize?

I propose $1 million to the botanist who develops a way to de-stinkify my neighborhood’s Bradford Pears.


28
Mar 15

“This law is not about discrimination” (This law…

“This law is not about discrimination”

(This law is about extending to people like me the right to discriminate against people not like me)