New Robotic Arm Creates High-Tech Marathon Shoes

This robotic arm is putting the finishing touches on a new high-tech marathon shoe.

After three minutes spraying material onto a mold, it's complete.

It's the latest effort by running brand On, founded in 2010.

It's been trying to muscle its way onto the high-tech shoe leaderboard, traditionally dominated by the likes of Nike and Adidas.

Built to be lightweight and bouncy so runners can maintain a fast pace over 26 miles, marathon shoes have become big business for sportswear brands.

At $330, On's shoe is at the upper end of the market, though with a less eye-watering price tag than Adidas' $500 model launched last September.

The "LightSpray" production method requires fewer parts per pair and challenges the usual footwear manufacturing production model... which relies on shipping finished shoes to consumers from factories in South-East Asia.

While most running shoe innovations focus on the midsole, On argues the LightSpray shoe's thin, seamless, one-piece upper makes it light and aerodynamic.

Co-founder Caspar Copetti is hopeful about the technology’s future.

“In terms of scaling it, it's actually quite simple basically, we just need more robots, right.”

“But I think really that this is a start of something so new, so good for the planet that, you know, we can do so much more,” Co-founder Olivier Bernhard said.

The launch comes as supply chain disruptions, geopolitical risks, and government incentives are driving interest in nearshoring – manufacturing or bringing production closer to the end customer.

The midsole, foam, and plate of the LightSpray shoes are currently produced in Asia, but On executives say the aim is to eventually manufacture those elements in Switzerland as well.