Industrial - Bachelor
SafeStride was made to not only help cater towards the physical recovery that a normal knee brace covers by limiting the range of movement. But also adding psychological reassurance built into the device, providing constant reassurance during activities and while wearing the brace. Allowing athletes to get back into their sport both physical and mentally ready.
This project started by looking into sporting injuries and how they can affect an athlete’s mental health. From research, it was found that 35% of athletes have mental health concerns. Some of the main issues are feelings of burnout, depression, and anxiety. These come from the fact that these athletes operate under intense pressure and can face unrealistic expectations from coaches, teammates, fans, and themselves. Pursuing excellence can take a toll on their well-being. This was too broad a problem to address, so after further secondary and primary research, the problem opportunity of “The fear of re-injury” became the focus.
The focus was to make it so that athletes could feel comfortable with their progress during times of uncertainty and turn mental reassurance into a tangible and visual method. During recovery, athletes spend less time with physio towards the end of their recovery. In this phase of recovery, uncertainty starts to boil over, making us so athletes don’t know if they’re pushing their bodies too hard, rushing their recovery. SafeSrides allows athletes to be able to push their bodies whilst getting instant feedback on whether they will re-injure themselves. Building confidence in themselves will allow them to return to their sport as quickly as possible, whilst being 100% physically and mentally.
Monitors physiological stress and identifies moments of anxiety or overexertion during training. Telling the athlete what movements are causing them the most trouble, allowing them to review and avoid certain movements until their body is ready.
Tracks load distribution, ensuring that athletes can’t overstain and provides audio and haptic feedback to stop them. Allowing for the user to adjust how they work out in real time, making it is they are less likely to get hurt and can push themselves further than normal.
Provides real-time tactile feedback when the athlete moves too aggressively, it acts as a subtle ‘safety nudge.’ It gives the athlete a quick and tactile way to know that they are pushing too hard against the stopper, meaning they are trying to overstain and overwork their knee.
Provides constant visual reassurance and progression, to allow athletes to know they are making progress even when it doesn’t feel like it. When you don’t get to move, the stopper can be weeks at a time, it can be demoralising and make it feel like you aren’t progressing. This shows the athlete that they are still making progress, though this visual element reassures them that they are taking steps in the right direction.
Making it so that it can be comfortable for anyone. The slider system uses pressure tabs to hold the adjustable slider in place, making it easy to change and hold it securely.
It offers lightweight yet rigid support and provides visual reassurance by using high-quality materials. This gives the athlete the best quality of materials, allowing them to know they can rely on this no matter what the exercise is and how much pressure they need it to hold.
Kobe Dent is an aspiring industrial designer passionate about turning creative solutions into real-world products. Currently studying Industrial Design and Business Marketing, he combines design thinking with strategic insight to craft innovative, user-focused solutions that bridge creativity, functionality, and market impact.