Blue shoeprint with a tread pattern on a white background.

Journal: Data in Brief

Published: 2020

Primary Author: Soyoung Park

Secondary Authors: Soyoung Park

Research Area: Footwear

Footwear outsole images were obtained from 150 pairs of used shoes. The motivation for constructing the database was to enable a statistical analysis of two-dimensional (2D) images of shoe outsoles, to understand within shoe (between replicate images of the same shoe) and between shoe variability, and to develop methods for the evaluation of forensic pattern evidence of shoeprints. Since we scanned the outsole of the used shoes, the images capture not only the outsole pattern design but also the marks that arise from wear and tear and that may help identify the shoe that made the impression. Each shoe in a pair was scanned five times, so that replicate images can be used to estimate within-shoe variability. In total, there are 1500 2D images in the database. The EverOS footwear scanner was used to capture the outsole of each shoe. The scanner detects the weight distribution of the person wearing the shoe when he or she steps on the scanning surface. It images the portions of the outsole that make contact with the scanning surface. The database is a useful resource for forensic scientists or for anybody else with an interest in image comparison. The database we describe, was constructed by researchers in the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) at Iowa State University.


Related Resources

A thick gray wavy line forming an abstract, looping shape on a light gray background.

An Introduction to the Forensic Handwriting Analysis Software handwriter

July 18, 2025

Blue shoeprint with a tread pattern on a white background.

Forensic Footwear: A Retrospective of the Development of the MANTIS Shoe Scanning System

July 10, 2025

There currently are no shoe-scanning devices developed in the United States that can operate in a real-world, variable-weather environment in …

A green fingerprint icon on a light gray background.

Examiner consistency in perceptions of fingerprint minutia rarity

July 10, 2025

Friction ridge examiners (FREs) identify distinctive features (minutiae) in fingerprints and consider how rare these observed minutiae are in their …