CALMSHOE Tests Fourth-Generation Noble Sneakers, Applies Plantar-Pressure Findings to Production

Photo courtesy of CALMSHOE.

CALMSHOE has released the results of a test comparing plantar pressure in its fourth-generation Noble Sneakers with that of earlier models. The fourth-generation shoes recorded lower contact pressure than the second-generation model at the medial arch and heel. At the fourth and fifth metatarsals, however, their pressure was the highest among the three products tested. CALMSHOE said it will incorporate the findings into the mass-production process.

On Sept. 8, CALMSHOE announced the results of a comparative plantar-pressure assessment of its second-, third- and fourth-generation sneakers, commissioned from the Korea Institute of Materials Convergence Technology. For the test, an adult man walked at 3.8 kilometers per hour while the sole of the foot was divided into seven regions. Measurements were taken repeatedly for each product under those conditions. The report number is E-2026-0060.

In the test, contact pressure at the medial arch measured 23.79 kPa in the fourth-generation Noble Sneakers, lower than the 28.27 kPa recorded by the second-generation model. The fourth-generation shoes also registered lower pressure at the heel, measuring 57.08 kPa compared with 61.95 kPa for the second generation.

Post-hoc analysis placed the fourth-generation model alone in the lowest group among the three products for both the medial arch and the heel. The differences identified at both locations were statistically significant, with p<.001.

The contact-area findings for the medial arch followed a different pattern from the contact-pressure results. The fourth-generation model recorded a medial-arch contact area of 23.08 square centimeters, while the second-generation model measured 21.67 square centimeters. Post-hoc analysis assigned the two models to the same group, meaning that the test did not statistically distinguish their contact areas. The third-generation model recorded 2.18 square centimeters.

CALMSHOE explained that although there was no significant difference between the fourth- and second-generation models in the medial arch’s contact area, the two products did show a difference in contact pressure at that location. The results therefore separated the pressure measurement from the area of contact: the contact areas were not significantly different, but the measured pressures were.

By contrast, contact pressure at the lateral arch showed no statistically significant difference among the three products, with p=0.199. At the fourth and fifth metatarsals, the fourth-generation model recorded 41.29 kPa, the highest value of the three sneakers included in the comparison.

CALMSHOE said it will examine whether the fourth-generation model’s result at the fourth and fifth metatarsals may be related to the amount of space inside the shoe. As a production improvement, the company plans to widen the last—the form that determines the shoe’s shape—around the ball of the foot and apply the change to the mass-produced product.

The Noble Sneakers use PULSESOLE, a functional insole designed by CALMSHOE CEO Han Tae-san. Han studied physical therapy at Yonsei University and obtained a national physical therapist license. He founded CALMSHOE based on his clinical experience working with gait and weight-bearing.

“In clinical practice, we think every day about how to support the foot, but no one actually measured what was happening inside the shoes patients wore when they left,” Han said. “CALMSHOE commissions an outside institution to conduct testing each time the product moves to a new generation because we want to keep the developer and the evaluator separate.”

Han added that selecting only the favorable test items would prevent the company from finding what needed to be corrected. “This test identified the space around the ball of the foot as an area for improvement, and we plan to reflect that finding in mass production,” he said.

CALMSHOE plans to commission an outside institution to measure the same items whenever the product advances to another generation. The company also intends to disclose the results of those future assessments.