This ongoing study focuses on the OnCloud CloudBoom LS and its innovative spray-on upper — a material application method that suggests a future for deployable, additive manufacturing in footwear. At the core of the project is an attempt to create a digital twin that not only captures the shoe’s form, but simulates the behavior of its sprayed textile shell with visual and procedural accuracy.
Working in Houdini, the process began with vellum simulations to generate a responsive upper form. From there, contour lines were extracted and repurposed as paths for simulated spray application. Using VEX, randomized helix patterns were distributed along these contours to mimic the directional layering seen in the original product. A major challenge — and breakthrough — came in reproducing the semi-translucent buildup where spray paths overlap. By integrating topology-aware layering, the shader work began to take on the same visual language as the physical shoe.
