Method for determining mobility of regions of an object

A method of determining the mobility of one of two similar objects that lie in non-coplanar reference planes, comprising:

• a) adjusting a reference plane beneath one of the two similar objects whose mobility is to be measured;
• b) applying a load to the two similar objects to determine that each of the two objects supports one half of said load;
• c) measuring a first elevation from said reference plane of at least one location of one of said two similar objects, under a first weight load of a plurality of increments of a total weight load using a device to obtain a first measurement of said first object;
• d) measuring a further elevation from said reference plane of said at least one location on said first object under a next incremental load of said plurality of increments of a total weight load to obtain a next measurement;
• e) repeating step d) until said total weight load is achieved;
• and
• f) determining a mobility of said first object based on a plurality of measurements at said plurality of different weight loads.

A device for measuring a contour of a foot comprising:

• a radiation source for emitting radiation therefrom;
• a first mirror for folding said radiation emitted from said radiation source towards an object being measured;
• a second mirror for folding a reflection of a said radiation from said object being measured;
• a sensor for sensing said reflected radiation folded by said second mirror;
• a transparent surface located above said radiation source and said sensor that supports the foot;
• and
• means for adjusting said transparent surface relative to the plantar surface of said foot.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for executing a method comprising the steps of:

• a) measuring at least a portion of a shape of said object under an initial increment of a weight load of a plurality of increments of a total weight load using a device;
• b) measuring said at least said portion of said shape of said object under a next increment of a total weight load of said a plurality of increments of a weight load using the device;
• c) repeating step b) until a total weight load is achieved;
• and
• d) comparing said measurements from the device under said plurality of incremental weight loads, thereby determining a mobility of at least said portion of said object under said plurality of increments of weight loads.