3D-printing has made some truly impressive strides over the last decade. Thus far, we've seen everything from functional firearms to automobiles, and the possibilities only continue to grow. In fact, it turns out that Kanye West's fear of people printing sneakers in their own homes wasn't nearly as irrational as some may have believed.
During last weekend's GeekWire Summit, Nike COO Eric Sprunk was in the building to discuss the brand's innovations and technology when the topic of 3D-printing came up. While he makes it a point to note that there may be some intellectual property-related hurdles, Sprunk sounds confident that the days of at-home, 3D-printed sneakers are drawing near.
"Do I envision a future where we might still own the file from an IP perspective — you can't just have anyone making a Nike product — and have it manufactured in your own home or we do it for you at our store?” Sprunk said. “Yeah, that's not that far away.”
Wow. This is either going to be the greatest thing that ever happened to sneakers or one of the worst, but either way, it should be thrilling to watch it all play out. Check out Sprunk's talk in its entirety above.
