Adidas has announced its first 3D-printed trainer for mass production

Soon enough, everything will be 3D-printed: your house, your food and of course, your clothes. But first, your creps. Adidas have been banging on about 3D printing shoes for a while now, but finally, oh god finally, they’ve announced the exact shape they’re going to send into mass production. It’ll be called the Futurecraft 4D, presumably because it will enable you to travel through time, otherwise the name wouldn’t make a jot of sense.

The whole shoe won’t be 3D printed – you’re crazy, this isn’t Robocop – but the sole will be (or more specifically, the mid-sole). It’ll be made using a fancy schmancy process called Continuous Liquid Interface Production (or CLIP for short), which involves pulling the sexy design out of a vat of liquid polymer resin (or LPR – pronounced ‘luhper’ – for short) before being molded into the desired shape using ultraviolet light.