Foot arch characterization: a review, a new metric, and a comparison.

Background: The medial longitudinal arch of the foot is important because it helps protect the foot from injury. Researchers have developed many measures to quantify the characteristics of the arch, and there is ongoing debate about the suitability of these different metrics. This article compares the various measures related to the foot arch, including a new metric, the midfoot dorsal angle, and then investigates the differences in the dimensional measures among various foot types.

Footbed shapes for enhanced footwear comfort.

A shoe wearer's comfort is related to the shape of the footbed of a shoe. Even though the footbed shape is important in footwear design, there exists no methodology to evaluate the existing guidelines used in last making. Thirty-two females participated in an experiment where heel seat length, heel seat inclination and heel height were investigated using the profile assessment device.

Modelling foot height and foot shape-related dimensions.

The application of foot anthropometry to design good-fitting footwear has been difficult due to the lack of generalised models. This study seeks to model foot dimensions so that the characteristic shapes of feet, especially in the midfoot region, can be understood. Fifty Hong Kong Chinese adults (26 males and 24 females) participated in this study.

A qualitative study on the comfort and fit of ladies' dress shoes.

The perceived differences between comfortable and uncomfortable shoes and the fit preferences in the different regions of ladies' shoes were explored. Twenty Hong Kong Chinese females participated in the study. Each participant wore and rated the different aspects of their own comfortable and uncomfortable shoes.