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On the winning road with X-BIONIC
Earlier this year when 4,662 innovative products from 1,865 inventive companies competed for one of the world’s most treasured design prizes, the red dot - X-BIONIC, the high-tech sportswear brand won double honours in Essen. The innovative Swiss company was able to convince judges with its latest technological invention and won an award for its Precuperation/Recovery Shirt & Trousers and a second award for its Precuperation/Recovery Socks. Both products aid sports performance and muscle recovery through the application of compression.
21st May 2013
Innovation in Textiles
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Switzerland
Earlier this year when 4,662 innovative products from 1,865 inventive companies competed for one of the world’s most treasured design prizes, the red dot - X-BIONIC, the high-tech sportswear brand won double honours in Essen.
The innovative Swiss company was able to convince judges with its latest technological invention and won an award for its Precuperation/Recovery Shirt & Trousers and a second award for its Precuperation/Recovery Socks. Both products aid sports performance and muscle recovery through the application of compression.
In only a few years X-BIONIC, which is based in Wollerau in the Swiss canton of Schwyz, has won more than 390 renowned international awards and top test ratings.
The company claims to have “innovative technology that enhances performance, gives you endurance, and makes you simply superior.”
X-Technology, the Swiss think tank, brings together biologists, sports scientists, engineers, bionics experts and professional athletes to develop innovative solutions that are revolutionizing the world of functional sportswear. Creative, interdisciplinary processes, combined with scientific research have led to the development of the performance-enhancing brands X-BIONIC, X-SOCKS, X-NUTRIO and APANI.
Regeneration during sleep
A good example of how the brain of Professor Bodo W. Lambertz, chief and head engineer of X-Bionic, ticks, is the development of the award winning project Energetic and Mental Precuperation/Recovery. The starting point for the assignment was the alluring idea of using the entire period during which a person is asleep to regenerate the human body’s bio-physiological system.
Professor Lambertz’ team succeeded in developing special sleepwear, which applies compression in a strategic way on specific muscle zones to exploit the natural movement of the body during sleep and thereby stimulate the nerves, and by alternating cycles of tension and relaxation, to massage the body, including the deeper regions.
The effect in athletic terms, X-BIONIC says, is impressive. Muscle fibre retains its flexibility while at the same time the blood vessels, lymph system and neuro response system are perceptibly regenerated – without the subject having to make any effort. In Professor Lambertz’ view, “This is the perfect sleepwear for regeneration after sporting activity and during long-haul business trips.”
X-SOCKS
Since the first generation X-SOCKS were developed in 1997, X-Technology has been characterized by unique innovative craftsmanship leading to functionality that still changes the world of sports apparel and the number of international patents (60 plus 200 design patents) for technologies shows how much innovation and technology can be found in X-SOCKS.
The Advanced Foot Protection System – a targeted protection and support system for the feet – is specifically conceptualised for different sports and guarantees every pair of X-SOCKS will effectively protect and support athletes’ feet.
Turning sweat into energy
X-BIONIC products act as intelligent interfaces between an athlete’s body and its environment. To enhance physical performance X-BIONIC uses innovative technologies that positively influence the muscles, nerves, body temperature and physical cooling system.
Like the X-Bionic technology which utilizes sweat as a coolant, keeps the body temperature stable and taps into previously unused reserves of potential strength - 3D-BionicSphere System leaves a thin film of moisture on the skin without the body sensing wetness and SweatTraps then transport excess sweat, allowing it to evaporate, and then dispose of it via thermal dynamics.
“All that remains is a comfortable, thin, cooling layer of moisture. Of course - no sweat, no cooling. In freezing temperatures the entire system of channels functions as insulator in both rest and recovery phases. In this way the athlete avoids the risk of over-chilling during activity,” X-BIONIC adds.
You can check out the 3D BIONIC SphereSystem in this video...
The wide product range of X-BIONIC offers specialized solutions for a wide variety of sports, applications and types of athletes. To perfectly adapt to specific user needs and weather conditions, all X-BIONIC components work together as a versatile multi-layer system – the patented SYSTEMGEAR.
Where there is imagination, there is possibility
In the development process, Professor Lambertz always bears in mind the athlete and his or hers current and future living environments and needs. In order to develop a new and coherent clothing concept with the right solutions capable of meeting future requirements, he tries to anticipate how the world and athletes’ needs will change.
He identifies, analyzes and comprehends the relationships between the most diverse factors of influence and develops relevant and attractive proposals that the client can profit from. One result of this work is the Effektor technology, whose Partial Kompression has proven to improve athletes’ muscle performance and stamina.
This X-BIONIC Partial Compression movie explains...
When developing, the X-Technology team headed by Professor Lambertz, relied on both highest theoretical expertise and deep practical knowledge of performance sports. The new SMC-Technology (Specific Muscle Control) works to create evenness in imbalanced musculature with its asymmetrical compression, supporting active muscles and producing overall balance – the perfect clothing for asymmetrical sports.
Having done an impressive job of proving that the X-Technology system with its X-BIONIC Effektor Technology (proven and tested by: CeRISM, EMPA, SportsScience, Universitites of Vienna, Münster and Dortmund) works, the focus is always on one thought - How can X-BIONIC optimally support the body under particular demands?
Apani - as pure as nature intended
“With APANI, Professor Lambertz changed another time the whole world of clothing – he made merino wool intelligent,” X-BIONIC says. The intensive cooperation between designers, engineers, model makers and customers results in a product that is thoroughly considered from all different perspectives.
Through many years of interdisciplinary experience, X-Technology has built up extensive know-how in many different areas. With APANI, Professor Lambertz created products combining natural materials and their bionic functions with patented revolutionary technology.
“Wool cannot cope with sweat. It soaks up sweat and becomes heavy and unpleasant to wear. Sheep don’t sweat. People do. APANI makes wool intelligent, by integrating extra functionality,” the company says. “Patented machines are used to knit a three-dimensional fabric from Merino wool. Sweat gets processed. APANI makes clothing that is fully functional.
This APANI video explains how it works...
The future holds no mysteries. We already see it in our labs
According to X-BIONIC, three dimensional fabric engineering, adaptive materials and hybrid structures are just the beginning and will be followed by innovations in micro and nanofibres. The company says that in the future, sports clothing will not just be worn, it will be applied – like an app for the athlete`s body, communicating with it and supporting every activity in an optimal fashion. Temperature, blood pressure and pulse sensors along with differential sweat monitoring will enable even more effective performance enhancements.
Think further, invent smarter
X-BIONIC says that, whilst big companies prefer marketing instead of research, X-BIONIC is driven by the passion of its development and design teams. “They create solutions that deliver measurable key performance advantages and are redefining the ways they think about high performance sportswear, picking up many international awards for the leading edge X-Technology innovations along the way,” the Swiss innovator concludes.
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