Ukrainian researcher Tetyana Vishtak has developed a fabric technology with the effect of «Mechanical Intelligence», which monitors tension and warns the athlete about the risk of injury. The developer is already in talks with Nike Lab.
Ukrainian researcher Tetyana Vishtak has developed a fabric technology with the effect of «Mechanical Intelligence», which monitors tension and warns the athlete about the risk of injury. The developer is already in talks with Nike Lab.
According to Wishtak, a former national gymnastics and pole dance champion, Limit Signal’s technology works at «the speed of light without a single battery.»
«The problem that my invention solves is that adrenaline and a high pain threshold act as a powerful anesthetic. When an athlete is at the peak of concentration, his natural receptors — muscle spindles and Golgi organs — are desensitized. The body does not have time to send a danger signal before a mechanical rupture occurs. The patented Moiré Strain Indicator technology is a real challenge to the era of complex gadgets. This is a „smart“ technology that does not require charging, wires or smartphones. It works on the basis of the moiré effect — an optical phenomenon that has been made to work to protect the human body,» the developer said.
The device consists of two ultra-thin layers of elastic fabric with micropatterns. When the muscle is stretched, the layers shift, creating optical interference. It worked precisely in the range from 22% to 34% of skin deformation. This is the «golden mean», which corresponds to 80% of safe tissue tension. At the moment of approaching the dangerous limit, the chaotic lines on the bandage suddenly line up into a clear inscription LIMIT — a kind of «analog speedometer for the body».
According to Wishtak, the patented technology has already attracted interest from large companies, including Nike Lab, which is in talks to integrate it into its production. Its cost is $0.15 (using standard textile printing and laser processing cycles), and the selling price is $8–10.
«Why wasn’t this invented earlier? Because it required combining academic knowledge in biomechanics and optics with my practical experience as an elite trainer. Engineers don’t feel tissue tension the way we do in the gym,» says Tetyana Vishtak.
She added that her solution adds «a smart security feature at the price of a regular label.» It could be of interest to manufacturers of sportswear and gadgets because it doesn’t require changing factories, but only adding «one technological layer» to their standard process.
The Vishtak project is currently in the strategic scaling stage.
