Emily Yim Lee Au

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. METHODS The right feet of 48 healthy individuals (24 men and 24 women) were measured, and various metrics, including the arch height index, the navicular height to arch length ratio, the arch index, the footprint index, the subjective ranking, the modified arch index, the malleolar valgus index, and the midfoot dorsal angle, were determined. RESULTS Correlation analyses showed that the arch index obtained from the inked footprint has a moderate to high correlation (Pearson correlation coefficients >0.50) with all measured foot-type metrics except for the malleolar valgus index. There were no differences in participant age, stature, weight, body mass index, foot length, foot width, and midfoot height among high, normal, and low foot arches. However, the high-arched group had significantly shorter arch lengths but larger navicular heights and higher midfoot dorsal angles compared with the low-arched group. There were differences in force distributions and peak pressures as well. The rearfoot had more loading and greater peak pressure whereas the midfoot had less load in the high-arched group compared with the low-arched group. CONCLUSIONS The midfoot dorsal angle may be an appropriate metric for characterizing the foot arch because it is quick and easy to measure, without the tedious procedures associated with area calculations and dimension measurements.

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. Their foot lengths, foot widths, ball girths and foot heights were measured and then evaluated using mathematical models. The results showed that there were no significant allometry (p > 0.05) effects of foot length on ball girth and foot width. Foot height showed no direct relationship with foot length. However, a normalisation with respect to foot length and foot height resulted in a significant relationship for both males and females with R2 greater than 0.97. Due to the lack of a direct relationship between foot height and foot length, the current practice of grading shoes with a constant increase in height or proportionate scaling in response to foot length is less than ideal. The results when validated with other populations can be a significant way forward in the design of footwear that has an improved fit in the height dimension.

Footbed shapes for enhanced footwear comfort

A shoe wearers 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. The dependent variables were plantar pressure and perceived feeling of each participant. The results show that perceived feel is best for wedge angles of 4° and 5° at a heel height of 25 mm, 10° and 11° at a heel height of 50 mm and 16° and 18° at a heel height of 75 mm. A regression model was derived and this explained approximately 80% of the variation of perceived feeling with the contact area, peak plantar pressure and percentage of force acting on the forefoot region. Both heel wedge angle and heel seat length play an important role in the perceived feel of high-heeled shoes. This study, in relation to the load-bearing heel part of a shoe, highlights the importance of good footbed design. The findings can be used to design footwear with enhanced comfort.

Process Capability Improvement for Multistage Processes

While the quality control procedures for multistage has been considerably studied, multistage process capability analysis has not been explored much at all. Fostering on the recent development of the multistage process variation transmission model, a multistage process capability analysis algorithm is developed to prioritize process improvement efforts. The application of algorithm is demonstrated with two 2-stage industrial process examples and a 4-stage process example for its expandability.

A methodology for determining the allowances for fitting footwear

A psychophysical study was conducted to determine the ideal and acceptable foot-shoe allowances for widths and girths using an in-shoe simulator. Participants wore the in-shoe simulator product, walked, and rated the various regions of the foot. The ratings together with the foot scans were used to determine the ideal fit. The results of the signal detection analysis indicate that participants liked the perceived footwear tightness in 75% or more cases where foot-shoe allowance was less than 6.4 mm, 12.1 mm and 10.7 mm at the foot breadth, ball girth and waist girth respectively. The proposed tolerances could be useful for designing shoe lasts.

A psychophysical model for predicting footwear fit

In this study, two psychophysical models are proposed to predict perceived footwear fit with consideration of foot-shoe dimensional differences in the toe, metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) and mid-foot regions. A third-degree polynomial was constructed to predict the preference rating on a 7-point Likert scale from perceived footwear fit (5-point scale).

Does Instructional Video Advertising Influence Behavioral Intention? Comparative Study Between Hong Kong and Malaysia

This study aims to examine the influence of video type (commercial video vs. instructional video) and three cultural/individual difference factors (location: Hong Kong vs. Malaysia; education background: engineering/science vs. non-engineering/science; experience of using touchless technology: yes vs. no) on an individual’s behavioral intention to use the touchless system. This study was conducted with 60 participants (30 males and 30 females) from Hong Kong and 62 participants from Malaysia (31 males and 31 females) to investigate whether the video type and cultural/individual difference factors has an impact on individuals’ behavioral intention. The findings of this study reveal interesting comparative results between Hong Kong and Malaysia as well as provide useful insights for marketing practitioners.