INDURO: Ensuring Protection

— keep the spirit of the game alive while ensuring the athlete’s protection through physical and mental support

— length & type

3 months
Industrial Design
Footwear Design

— role

Lead Industrial Designer

— team

2 Designers

— context + problem to solve

Volleyball athletes all around the world are constantly exposed to potentially severe injuries while passionately playing on the court. Their protective gear needs to adapt to a fast paced environment that allows them to confidently perform at their greatest.

Current market protective gear for Volleyball are scarce and often dismissed by athletes. After performing a protective gear test with novice to veteran Volleyball athletes, the more protection a gear offered the less comfortable it was over time.

Every day volleyball athletes step into the court and expose themselves to a regrettable injury. The accumulation of these severely affect the athlete’s performance and their spirit of the game.

How might we keep the spirit of the game alive while ensuring the volleyball athlete’s protection?

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INDURO is a protective pair of athletic support socks designed for volleyball players.

— concept

In order to fill the gap of injury prevention in the sport of Volleyball, Induro utilizes fiber technology to read electric muscle signals that indicate potential injury in crucial touch points of the foot anatomy prior to the damage as a means of aiding the athlete to perform in court confidently.

— detail

The product consists of a self-hardening fabric that is able to read the electron structure of the wearer’s foot. Based on these signals, the fabric can become hard for greater support or soft and malleable for greater flexibility, based on the athlete’s needs.

These parameters allow Induro to protect the volleyball player’s ankle at the pressure points that receive the greatest physical strain and stress throughout a game. With purposeful placement of sensors throughout the fabric, Induro can predict injury before severe damage occurs, providing the athlete protection and confidence.

Not only does INDURO provide physical support, but also the mental support to allow the athlete to perform confidently to their highest ability in the court.

Teaser Film

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— recognitions

Prototypes for Humanities, formerly Global Grad Show, Exhibition @ Dubai Design Week, Dubai, UAE, 2018

European Product Design Awards: Winner in Outdoor and Exercise Equipment / Sports / Toys / Games, Los Angeles, CA, 2018

Given the nature of this project, further insights and design process can only be revealed in an interview setting.