2020
My name is Lindsey Moscoe. I believe in human centered design. Products should be reliable, user friendly, and ethically made. I also have a background in visual arts. I have won three design awards during my four years at Humber, including First Place in the 4th year Fall competition. As a former elite athlete, I understand the importance of ergonomics and the value of a strong work ethic. I am competitive, determined, creative, and reliable.
416-904-3836
Alpine ski racing debuted at the Olympics in 1936. Since then, there have been many changes in both equipment and training practices. Currently, skill development is achieved through verbal, visual, and kinetic communication between the coach and the racer. Verbal and visual communication are most often achieved while standing still, and kinetic communication is most often achieved through the completion of drills and repetition.
Additionally, each racer requires a personalized approach to teaching. Coaches must be able to communicate effectively in order to teach specific and sometimes subtle body movements to racers. There is currently no training device that improves a racer's skills while they are skiing. The proposed product solution is based on an in-depth study of the user, how they grow, the skills they must master, and the functionality of the human body. This information was gathered through data collection, observational studies, and interviews. The solution enhances verbal and kinetic communication between coaches and racers, and will enable coaches to better train their athletes.
Enhancement of Human Lifestyle
Skade is a full body interactive system designed to narrow the communication barriers between coaches and athletes. It benefits the athletes’ skill development, and it can also reduce coaches’ frustrations while teaching.
Skade gives racers the opportunity to receive more feedback in an easy to understand format. This allows racers to improve more quickly, gain confidence, and enjoy the sport more, which is beneficial for both the athletes and the sport. The confidence can carry over into other parts of the racers' lives.
Human-Interaction Design
The Skade system is worn on several different body parts. The racer's system interacts with the shoulders, arms, low back, calves, and ears, while the coach's arm band interacts with the arm and hands. The racer's upper wearable and calf sleeves vibrate in key areas when the coach presses a button on their arm band.
The shoulder vibrations tell the racer to level out their shoulders or to have more upper body separation. The arm vibrations can tell the racer to pole-plant more often, help with pole plant timing, or keep their arms in the correct position. The lower back vibrations help with movement and timing. The calf vibrations remind the racer to stay forward and to have strong shin pressure. In addition, the upper body wearable has spinal protection. The coach can also communicate verbally to the racer through the racer's ear-piece.
Human Factors and Ergonomics
Each part of Skade has different ergonomic requirements. The upper body wearable and the calf sleeves use existing clothing measurements. The ear piece and the arm band are one-size-fits-all. The ear piece fits around the ear inside the helmet, flat against the head. It will not move in response to vibrations from the terrain or the racer’s movements.
The arm band fits over an adult ski jacket. The adjustable Velcro strap ensures that the arm band fits. The calf sleeves fit the upper portion of the lower legs, and do not interfere with the ski boots. The batteries are located on the outside of the legs, which reduces the chance of breaking. The upper body wearable follows regular clothing sizing. The spinal protection covers from the shoulder blades to the tail bone. The battery located on the upper back sits between the upper portion of the shoulder blades.
Sustainability
The final design will have sustainable aspects for user and environmental health and safety. The upper body wearable and calf sleeves will use Pratibha Syntax fabrics, as this company is vertically integrated, fair-trade certified, and makes sustainable textiles, including fabrics in the active-wear category.
They primarily use organic fabric, recycled polyester, viscose, and hemp. An option for the threading is Natura thread. This thread is made from 100% cellulose fibers, organic cotton, or a biodegradable polymer. Their materials are also dyed with a Cradle to Cradle assessed dye chemicals. The plastic that will be used for the final product is Ingeo by NatureWorks. This is a plant-based plastic, however the company is, “…assessing new technology to skip plants and use microorganisms to directly convert greenhouse gases…” into plastic (NatureWorks, n.d.).