Heeluxe built a Time Machine. We are able to take footwear companies quickly into the future, allowing them to see what their shoes look and perform like after months or year of wear.
Our new device started out in concept phase over 3 years ago when one of our clients was asking for us to test shoes for 6-12 months in order to see if their outsole failed in that time period. The only problem was that they could not wait that long for results, because the shoes were set to go to market in 8 months. No current testing machine simulated human biomechanics in a way that replicated how their shoes were used. That was the inspiration to create a new machine.
We received input on what other companies would be interested in for this machine: adjustable body weight, adjustable pronation, and adjustable toe flex were all desired. Luckily, Heeluxe has a huge amount of data on how people’s feet move which gave us the parameters for the machine. After many attempts (and failures) we had a working version of our “rapid shoe durability tester” in August 2015. Now it needed two things: validation and a name.
We have proven that the machine is able to breakdown a shoe, similar to wearing it for an extended period of time. The machine works for casual shoes, running shoes, work boots and hiking boots. It can simulate 3 months of running shoe wear in 3 days and 1 year of hiking and work boot wear in 1 week. This allows our brand partners to see what their shoe will be like in 12 months, making it Heeluxe’s TIME MACHINE!
