DECEMBER 5—QinetiQ (Farnborough, UK; www.qinetiq.com), a defense technology and security company, announced that Stride Rite, a US children's footwear retailer and manufacturer, has begun a trial to evaluate its 3-D foot gauge, a system designed to produce highly accurate foot measurements. Foot gauges were installed in three Stride Rite stores in the Boston, MA, area earlier this month following the signing of an evaluation contract with QinetiQ. The agreement follows a £4.6 million contract earlier this year between QinetiQ and Clarks Shoes in the UK. Clarks is currently part way through a program to install QinetiQ foot gauges in all of its UK and Irish stores, with some 250 units installed and in operation to date.
The 3-D foot gauge, which uses six 3-D camera systems, provides detailed length, girth, and shape data, helping to ensure the best fit possible. The recorded 3-D data can also enable trend analysis, assisting future footwear design and improving stock control and the efficiency of in-store service. Stride Rite and other US footwear retailers currently use manual methods to measure customers' feet.
The foot gauge is based on 3-D optical ranging technology developed and patented by QinetiQ. The origins of the technology can be traced back to work done for the UK Ministry of Defence on the detection of unexploded ordnance. The foot gauge captures data very rapidly, and both feet can be scanned simultaneously, allowing store staff to decide quickly on best fit.
