Selected artwork by VJ KURU

RESEARCHIN' LIKE IT'S 2026

TL;DR

posts, reels, groups, open source projects, research papers, and more, all referenced in a categorized easy to view format

This is a running and evolving list. I just reformatted everything in this “research card” style format, so that all these links can be displayed and explored more easily, and to attach to specific drawings and upcoming posts. The most relevant and applicable posts are likely to be the research papers which have informed my direction. There is a lot to read through and digest here!

Volumental foot scanner

Volumental Fit Tech

Omnichannel FitTech® platform for footwear retailers: fast in‑store 3D foot scanning (~5s) paired with an AI Fit Engine® for on‑the‑spot shoe recommendations; browser‑based mobile scanning.

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Flexural joint design

Spherical Flexural Joint (Delft)

A novel 3D-printable spherical flexure joint. points to potential solutions for hinge-less boot cuff rotation

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Pneumatic jamming structure

Pneumatic Jamming Surface (xSlate)

Stiffness-on-demand via granular jamming—candidate for mode-switchable cuff/liner panels.

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eFlesh Electromechanical Sensor

A soft 3D‑printed TPU pad embeds a micro‑magnet over a low‑cost Hall‑effect (or magnetoresistive) sensor, converting boot compression and micro‑movement into clean digital signals that map to force/position over time for tightness, fit, impact, and movement—no hard mechanics.

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An Open Source Motorized XYZ Micro-Manipulator — Affordable sub µm Motion Control

Interesting project with impressive results. No clear direct relation to boots but might provide general project influence.

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Nordica: The Process, Ski Boots Series

A highly informative look inside the process of designing and manufacturing of a modern ski boot from Nordica. One thing I want you to take away from this is an understanding of how much capital investment is required to make a ski boot. from factories to tooling etc, I believe the process Project Fawn describes can take all of that knowledge and expertise and run it through a digital, distributed process that dramatically reduces the costs and impact of boot production while improving the fit and performance of ski boots.

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Size isn’t everything - 4 ways to print LARGE parts with a 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 3D Printer!

A look at different means of joining 3D prints. Specific Dovetail example is a relevant way of rigidly assembling boot tiles.

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Designing the strongest 3D Print

A prime example of design optimization for 3D printing. In this example Tom Stanton demonstrates a 3D printed carabiner that utilizes self-locking printed geometry and a flexible tether to outperform more traditional designs.

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The History of SKI BOOTS!!! A deep dive

An interesting look at the history and design features of traditional leather ski boots. It should be noted that boots were often custom fit to each skier. This was allowable due to the handmade local process.

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Muscles of the Leg (Division, Origin, Insertion, Functions)

A thorough look at all of the muscles of the leg in a 3D animated format with @Tiamtalksmed.

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I Made the Most Realistic Tyres Ever

A look at meshing a more realistic tire for BeamNG driving simulator. @Fillman86 points out that the mesh used as a stock tire does not realistically deform to cornering forces like a real tire, and determines that the problem is in how the tires are meshed. He goes through a process and settles on a mesh layout that closely mirrors the boot concepts here. Note the parallels between 3D animation and real world fabrication.

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I Built a 4-Axis 3D-Printer Unlike Anything You’ve Seen

A novel and simple 4 axis printer and corresponding slicer created by Joshua Bird that might be well suited to printing tubular structures like ski boots in one go without z-axis layer issues

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Strong 3D Printed Connections on BIG parts

This video explores the application of traditional woodworking joints to assembling large multi-part 3D prints. Highly informative regarding printed boot tiles with interlocking geometry.

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PEBA vs TPU – The Future of Flexible 3D Printing? (Siraya Tech Elastic 95A)

A video discussing PEBA Filament vs TPU that goes into a bit more detail of the polymer's properties

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Nonlinear Deformation Methods for Polygon Mesh

A primer on mesh deformations by Lin Chou Cheng. These techniques inform how a specific structural mesh (like a braid path) can be accurately deformed in a controlled manner to deform to a foot form.

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Deformation animation of regular polyhedra, regular star polyhedra and regular compounds.

This animation creates 5 types of regular polyhedra, 4 types of regular star polyhedra and 5 types of regular compounds for a total of 14 types, all deformed in a series of steps. The deformation methods use the procedure of stellating regular polyhedra.

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Deformation animation of regular and semi-regular polyhedra

This animation creates 5 types of regular polyhedra and 13 types of semi-regular polyhedra, for a total of 18 types, all deformed in a series of steps. The deformation methods used are the common methods for creating semi-regular polyhedra from regular polyhedra (cut/stretch, face release/face close, and twist).

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Context-Aware Skeletal Shape Deformation

An example of computer graphic technology for deforming an external mesh to an underlying skeleton structure with muscle bulging inferred by joint position. could be used to model the leg flexing between resting and forward flexed for simulation testing of boot flex characteristics.

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Mixed Tab Puzzle

Mixed Tabs Puzzle

Interlocking tab geometry useful for printable joints that self locate. Consider assembling a pile of parts, each fit should be unique and not be possible to fit incorrectly.

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Printed E-Bike Frame Prototype

Additively manufactured frame members for an e-moto prototype that are plastic-welded together, demonstrating it as a viable assembly technique for a tab-locked structure.

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Multi-Angle Image Cube

image cube with internal gridded features that align to reveal hidden images. A similar approach could be taken to boot tiles for lenticular viewing effects.

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Printed Unfolding Chainmail

A large print in place sheet of chainmail that is made by carefully aligning and stacking the loops just right so that it can be printed on a small printer and then unfolded multiple times to it's full size.

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Stellated Rhombic Hexacontahedron

Facet geometry study; could inspire shell segmentation that incorporates triangulated bracing through seam placement.

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Altitude Filament Printing

Altitude Filament (Extreme Cold Resistance)

Essentium’s Altitude filament is designed for low-temperature performance. Relevant to ski environments.

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Non-Planar Printing in Modern Slicers

Community workflows for non-planar toolpaths.Non planar tiles could better match anatomy while keeping node-mesh layout.

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Origami Simulator

Origami Simulator

Interactive origami simulator by Amanda Ghassaei. Folding patterns—could enable expandable/watertight boot openings. Playing with advanced options in this app allows for customization analogous of what would be required to tune a boot virtually.

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Ghost Text: Prompt Injection in Images

Security angle: adversarial text embedded in images. Could functions like this be used for other stuff? for example if boots had trackable features getting a good picture could be pinged as exposure credit.

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The geometry and mechanics of the Chinese finger trap

Analytical look at the classic braided structure—template for tunable axial stiffness.

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Two pre-relaxed kagome patterns

Mathematical Tiling and Tessellation

Active community on geometric tilings, tessellations, and related constructions—great reference well for printable mesh patterns and panel joints.

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