OakleyM-Frame

The frames are mainly made out of magnesium; a material that’s extremely lightweight and strong, as well as being durable and hypoallergenic. This clearly being ideal for purpose, since the glasses to be comfortable need to be lightweight, and the strength and durability make them appropriate for sport. While the hinge less design of the frames allows for ultimate comfort and adjustability, as well as reducing the risk of the frames snapping. The downside being that magnesium is an expensive material which does put costs up significantly (around 50%). Besides magnesium their is also a small amount of unobtanium within the frames, with its form being unique dependent on the outcome its needed for.

The lenses use ‘Polaric Ellipsoid Geometry’ to contour the frames into three dimensions that angle the glass, so it best protects sun and wind, as well as a range of tinted lenses to protect against the sunlight. The manufacturing process is all in-house which benefits timescale and the environment due to the fact that transportation, workforce etc are all reduced.

hand made high tech konradziemlewski

Developed by ‘Ossur’, Flex-Foot Cheetah blades are so named because they replicate the running movements of the big cat’s hind legs, which “reach out to paw at the ground while the large thigh muscles pull the body forward”.

The limb is extremely light, due to the reason its made from carbon-fibre, a material often seen used in aerospace engineering.In order to have a prosthetic that can compete with able bodies athletes it had to be able to be lightweight, responsive and incredibly strong. Carbon-fibre has a very high tensile strength and low weight, allowing for a lot of force to be applied to the limb at regular intervals. To make such a unique material its essentially a two stage process, starting off with stabilization, which allows to cross-link the precursors of carbon fibre, which are Polyacrylonitrile and Mesophase pitch. Once stabilized, carbonization has to occur, which results in the final incarnation of the material.

There are unfortunately problems with carbon-fibre. It is ridiculously expensive as well as having low sustainability. It is a long lasting material but when its run its course it is also a major drag to recycle currently, with research going on to make it much easier to recycle.

The adiLite Twin material used with these boots, is a single layer synthetic that essentially acts as a second skin - that allows for the most natural feel between the foot and the ball.

Another innovation is the TPU bottom frame, which offers lateral stability and support and transfers forces from the out-sole to the upper. Its location is where the most abrasion can occurincreasing the boots lifespan. Not only is the TPU material used on the outside of the boot but also inside. The internal TPU Support bands reinforce the single-layer adiLite Twin, providing stability when sprinting and bouncing back. TPU is an extremely elastic material, with great resistance to grease and abrasion as well as being transparent.

The creation of the ‘Sprint Frame’, gives the user unparalleled stability, during quick movements. The frame is extremely lightweight and geometric in design and only 1mm thick, remarkably not increasing the weight of the boot at all too create the much needed stiffness. Lastly we have the Traxion Studs, which are all shaped aerodynamically, as well as being coloured and weighed according to their use. The studs are divided into acceleration, stability and traxion, to provide balance to the boot.

There are rediculously high labour and transportation costs involved unfortunately.

OssurFlexfoot

AdidasAdizero

Nikeflyknit

Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The result of intricate patchwork of yarn, cables and fabric to give an unparalleled look and feel. Tony Bignell (Nike’s head footwear innovator) wanted to create a shoe that is as comfy as a sock but as strong as any other shoe. The team at Nike managed this using feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength. While for the structural strength they weaved supporting cables into the knit. The shoe is finished of with a Lunarlon cushion sole (foam that helps spread out the weight and any bumps that might be tread on). This innovation can not only enhance other types of clothing but also be used in construction and technology due to its high tensile strength and durability.

intimacy

Intimacy is a high tech fashion orientated project developed by Studio Roosegaarde. The garments are made out of opaque smart e-foils that become increasingly transparent based on close and personal encounters with people. Social interactions between ourselves determine the garments transparency playing on the idea of disclosure and intimacy. The range of materials used for the garments goes from e-foil that is full of tech to create the transparency to extremely thin and delicate leather. To determine the users ‘feelings’ towards one another the garments react to the wearers heartbeat (the higher the heartbeat the more transparent the garment) but also to levels of lightning and heat sensors (reacting to the proximity of others). A basis of a majority of these traits comes from Electroactive Polymers that allow a material to react and change its appearence when effected by electricity (as with the users heartbeat). This technique is also applicable to tech and sports based products.

polymers

A polymer is essentially a chemical compound or mixture consisting of a repeatable structure, somewhat like our own DNA. The majority of plastics, silly putty, rubber are all composed of polymers. What I am excited about are Shape Memory Polymers (SMPs) and Electroactive Polymers (EAPs). SMP is a material that has the ability to return from a deformed state to its original shape using an external trigger. SMPs can retain a number of shapes and the triggers can be induced by the temperature, a magnetic field, light, electric currents or a solution. Two excellent examples of these polymers working in theory are Batmans cape and the tuxedo in the film ‘Tuxedo’. Both using electric currents to adjust their shape and the materials ability (both focused on EAPs). Be it SMPs or EAPs the ability to adjust a materials shape, multiple times, to a specific need is revolutionary and a trend that I can see being major in clothing, automotive design and so on.

schoelleriload

Schoeller’s revolutionary holistic material has won innovation awards all around the world and for good reason. This new high tech fabric promises to convey therapeutic treatments transdermally, or through the skin. Unlike single use syringes or patches, iLoad can be washed and reloaded with the same or completely new medical agent. The system consists firstly of an eligible base fabric on which a special donor layer is applied and anchored. This is followed by the loading process which uses the donor layer that coats the entire fabric, combined with a specific emulsion with the required active substances. All of this works similar to a magnet; the negatively charged donor attracts the positively charged emulsion which begins the loading process which takes a couple of minutes. The expulsion of the medical agent is triggered by warmth, vibration or moisture and can be adapted to a specific need. iLoad is clearly targeted at medical wellness and the sports industry.

hand made high tech konradziemlewski

cardboardexperiments

The first material I decided to give a go was Cardboard. It’s a material I can get hold of extremely easily and one I felt could have a number of uses. Initially I tested the strength of the cardboard by ripping a single piece of it and then layering it to the point where I couldnt do so. Following this I decided to try and make the cardboard more malleable. To do this I put pieces of cardboard in a bowl of water, till it became pulp, to which I added washing up liquid to try and bond it. What I found is that while wet I was able to mould the cardboard but unfortunetly when it tried the bonding was not strong enough so my structure fell apart (the use of something like pva glue would be worth a try). I felt the cardboard though was too limited to what I wanted to try.

hand made high tech konradziemlewski

Foamexperiments

Having finished with the cardboard I moved on to Flexible Elastometric Foam, in this case represented by pipe insulation. Since flexibility was in the team I started out by looking at the materials flexibility by trying to break it by twisting it in two different directions constantly (after about 50 tries and the material still having not snapped I decided to call it a day). Then I tried burning it, but instead of catching fire, it actually melts away, which might work for sculpting. The foam is water resistant and also floats, being able to carry a reasonable amount of weight. To have the buoyancy weight tested, I created a small raft. Also having the foam frozen increased its strength and durability significantly, making it much harder to cut/tear.

styrofoamexperiments

Having enjoyed using the foam, and liking the fact that its water resistant and can hold its weight on water I went on the search for a better material with similar properties. Initially I started out with comaparing the weight buoyancy with the foam. The foam could carry 1kg on a 20x20 piece of material compared to 5kg on the styrofoam, showing a huge increase. Then I went on to trying to form the material by cutting it. Using a craft knife, I tried to cut through the styrofoam but that only really ripped through the material and did not deliver a clean cut. Then I tried smothering the blade in wax, which helped a bit but not enough; heating up the blade though helped massively melting the styrofoam in the process, the cut still not being ideal though.

Aluminiumexperiments

I chose aluminium because its something I have a lot of around the house (clothes hangers). Initially I cut the pieces apart using clippers, showing the material is strong but can be split if need be. Then using a small portion tested how many times I can bend the piece in two different directions till it snapped; I reached over 50 and gave up, showing the materials malleability. Heating up the metal makes it that more mallable, which helps to create curves, for sculpting etc. Then I mixed the material with ‘cranberry juice’ for, which I found has high concentration of iodine; the result was an absolute load of smoke coming out from the mixture. This could be useful for a makeshift smoke signal of some sort, if the ability to make fire is not possible.

lightexperiments

Lastly I wanted to explore shadow and light since its a very underestimated commodity. All experiments were done using a torch, string and polystyrene balls that come with packaging. Using different angles, height of light, size of balls I tried to create a range of effects and patterns. Engraving the balls..

hand made high tech konradziemlewski

Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The result of intricate patchwork of yarn, cables and fabric to give an unparalleled look and feel. Tony Bignell (Nike’s head footwear innovator) wanted to create a shoe that is as comfy as a sock but as strong as any other shoe. The team at Nike managed this using feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength. While for the structural strength they weaved supporting cables into the knit. The shoe is finished of with a Lunarlon cushion sole (foam that helps spread out the weight and any bumps that might be tread on). This innovation can not only enhance other types of clothing but also be

Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The result of intricate patchwork of yarn, cables and fabric to give an unparalleled look and feel. Tony Bignell (Nike’s head footwear innovator) wanted to create a shoe that is as comfy as a sock but as strong as any other shoe. The team at Nike managed this using feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength. While for the structural strength they weaved supporting cables into the knit. The shoe is finished of with a Lunarlon cushion sole (foam that helps spread out the weight and any bumps that might be tread on). This innovation can not only enhance other types of clothing but also be

Flyknit is the product of an entirely new shoe-making process that can produce a single, lightweight knit upper (tongue included). The result of intricate patchwork of yarn, cables and fabric to give an unparalleled look and feel. Tony Bignell (Nike’s head footwear innovator) wanted to create a shoe that is as comfy as a sock but as strong as any other shoe. The team at Nike managed this using feather-light, high-quality polyester yarn of varying elasticity, durability, thickness and strength. While for the structural strength they weaved supporting cables into the knit. The shoe is finished of with a Lunarlon cushion sole (foam that helps spread out the weight and any bumps that might be tread on). This innovation can not only enhance other types of clothing but also be

material reapropriation