Human Practice

Investigation and Improvement of Our Insoles

we need to know how our products perform in the market. Therefore, we completed the Insole 1, we do a user survey. Then we return to the laboratory to think about the new design which is based on user’s feedback. Ultimately, we have adopted the third Insole 3.

Insole 1:

Insole 1 was a resin and sponge based insole, the main body of which was a honeycomb like resin skeleton with sponge inset. The sponge was filled with culture liquid so that the engineered E. coli strains can grow in it. This insole had four layers, in the middle was the main body. It was covered by the bacterial filter membrane which can prevent the bacterial from escaping. Outer were the sponge layer and skin care cloth layer.

When we finished it. We took some samples to do an investigation out of our lab. People said: OK. Interesting, yet your insole was so tough and inflexible that may be uncomfortable for people to use. After thinking deeply about people’s feedback. We decided to make a thorough change. So we designed another hydrogel based insole—the second insole.

Insole 2:

This insole was made of a kind of high mechanical strength hydrogel, which was tough enough for people to stand on it as well as flexible and soft enough to provide a better user experience. Also it had four layers, yet there was only one sponge layer which was beneath the hydrogel main body.

When we produced it, again, we went to the community to chat with people to collect the feedback of it. When we brought the samples to people, they were highly think of. People said: well, amazing soft insole! And they showed great willingness to try it on. Also, we had collected several constructive suggestions. Such as: “Your hydrogel insoles maybe a bit cold for people to use in winter.”Or “How about your insole swelling after absorbing the foot sweat?” Also, they talked about the flatfoot. All their praise and suggestions encouraged us very much, so we decided to continue to improve it. Finally, we made the advanced hydrogel insole— insole 3.

Insole 3:

Instead of using one kind material and the flat surface, insole 3 was made of two kinds of hydrogels and it had an ergonomic hook face structure. In the force-intensive areas such as the toe, sole and the heel, the fist softer hydrogel was used to support the force and the first type E. coli to grow. In the other area, the tougher hydrogel with the second E. coli grow on it. Besides, we introduced the swelling super absorbent polymer(SAP) particles and dried one to deal with the swelling problem. Insole 3 had two different types. The summer type was thinner than usual and absorbed the CecropinXJ directly without the first type E. coli grow on it. The winter type insole had an extra convenient heating equipment on the bottom of the insole. It also had four layers.

You can try it on Gaint Jamboree！

It should be pointed out that people’s need for the special insole inspired us. We thought it was an opportunity for us to produce personal customized insoles. Everyone’s feet are different, even one person’s two feet were rare identical. With the help of foot scanner or the camera of the smart phone, we can produce your personal customized antibacterial and deodorant insole for you, your own “comfortable”!

Patent Application

As a very practical application of innovation, we want to make our project a further continuation of the real daily life in the more general case - the real into commercial application.