Eight years ago, Nike decided it was time to expand the Nike Sports Research Laboratory (NSRL), which is located in the Mia Hamm building at the company's headquarters.

The NSRL, located on the top floor of the new LeBron James Innovation Center, is now five times the original size, enough to allow athletes, researchers and innovators to collaborate in the development of the products we wear every day. day.

Study football stars such as Megan Rapinoe and Eliud Kipchoge, the fastest marathoner in the world-from the millimeter difference between each foot to each foot The amount of force projected when touching the ground-helps researchers develop guidelines and helps creators design clothing and footwear to improve performance. Athletes can also train with the support of Nike scientists to learn more about themselves and their bodies, thereby improving their performance.

But NSRL is not only for elite athletes in the world; it is for those who play basketball games on concrete courts in city parks, nearby runners, and prospective parents and new parents highlighted in the Nike "Strongest Athlete" movie.

Matt Nass, vice president of Nike Discovery Team Sports Research Lab, said that Nike sometimes tries to get a deeper understanding faster.

"The other kind of science is big data, which uses machine learning or artificial intelligence to observe and start to understand many different sports inventions."

He said that 80% to 85% of the people who pass the laboratory are daily athletes from different backgrounds and different body types. Nike plans to bring thousands of active bodies into the door, which can increase the speed of learning and development through new spaces.

Nike recently invited members of the media to experience firsthand how athletes, researchers, and innovators interact to develop Nike products.

Entrance to LeBron James Innovation Center. Image credit: Rae Witte / Composite: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

Entrance to LeBron James Innovation Center. Image credit: Rae Witte / Composite: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch

The entrance to the 750,000-square-foot LeBron James Innovation Center has set the tone for Nike’s commitment to innovation using data and design over the past decade.

Each of James' 30,000 points in his career has been mapped on the polished concrete floor in front of the golden hoop. The batting is distinguished by golden points and empty zeros, which represent points and missed points. Milestone moments are highlighted on the floor with larger title markers, including his first shot and his 20,000th point.

Above the main floor are prototypes of clothing and footwear: designers and creators use robots and 3D printers, as well as knitting, textile and embroidery parts to occupy space. There is even a replica of Winnebago, Nike co-founder Phil Knight once went to participate in track and field competitions. There, he will distribute Nike's earliest version of shoes to get feedback from athletes.

The 84,000-square-foot NSRL occupies the top floor of the building and is where researchers and athletes gather to develop Nike footwear and apparel. NSRL includes a full-size NBA regular court, a 200-meter-long track, climate room and artificial training turf. These areas contain 92 force plates, 400 motion capture cameras and 80 prototypes.

Nurse describes the force plate as a beautified bathroom scale, located below the surface of the running track, turf, and basketball court. He said that unlike a typical bathroom scale, it will provide a reading when you step on it, "These scales measure tens of thousands of times in three dimensions per second. So it's not just straight up and down, but left and right, front and back."

For example, for runners on a race track, they will be able to measure the force with which their feet connect and push off the ground.

The extra space in NSRL allows for smoother and less restrictive gaming and movement.

"One of the goals here is to allow the athletes to be able to advance at full speed, at full speed, and [in] continuous competition," the nurse said. "Sometimes in small facilities, actions are choreographed, that's all. Now, we can let people come in and play."

In order to inform researchers how to use all the tools in the space for controlled experiments and observational big data collection, nurses said they tried to understand the three pillars of the triangle: "What is the dose, what is the behavior, and what is the response. If we have a dose , Reaction and behavior, the prototype must provide us with enough information to do this. We think this is to find a solution to the problem."

While visiting the laboratory, we conducted some of the same tests that Nike designed for its athletes, including tests on basketball courts, running tracks and turf, and treadmills.

We started by collecting baseline data: full body scans to determine the best Nike clothing fit; morphological body shape tracking and bone and muscle asymmetry; separate 3D scans of my feet and ankles; and before applying the performance innovation treadmill Barefoot walking stress test. I chose a comfortable jogging speed and was instructed to run for two to three minutes while they recorded it for analysis.

Researchers can provide observations on the form, such as whether the athlete is too flexible, runs with toes, or leans too much forward.

They can also make functional suggestions. For example, runners who lean forward excessively may need to strengthen their glutes or hamstrings for a more effective gait.

Based on their understanding of biomechanics and their algorithm development to understand products and athletes, using this test combined with baseline data, researchers can make shoe recommendations for optimal efficiency-whether it's running faster or Longer and/or less stress on the body.

The track itself surrounds the turf and basketball court. It is equipped with force plates and motion capture cameras, which can be used for long-distance running or more segmented tests, such as starting. The LED Rabbit or pacemaker provides another layer of control for the experiment, and a 100-meter-long concrete belt simulates outdoor running.

On the track, I was able to test two different shoe options. Their infinite response aims to protect and reduce physical stress and stability. I was able to run around the track at a comfortable pace, ahead of the Nike Run Club's 11:37 average runner-mile pace, and far behind the pace of less than 2 hours marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge, like glowing green LEDs The pacemaker is shown circling the runway all day long.

However, when I tried to run a lap with the ZoomX Invincible, the preferred running shoe for elite runners, we found that the cushioning system-ultra-light, with a carbon plate in the sole of its exaggerated foam and air system-was not the same as my feet. The mechanics match.

This structure provides the best efficiency for some people, allowing me-although I find that I am a good body shape, I am not a runner-and my feet are narrow, previously injured ankles and flexible (or I think Is loose or weak) Ankle is very unstable running experience. I didn't even complete the 200-meter lap.

Athletes run on the track of the Nike Sports Research Laboratory. Image source: Nike

Athletes run on the track of the Nike Sports Research Laboratory. Image source: Nike

This is where the range of athletes is so important. Researching runners like Kipchoge is very valuable. Because of his high physical efficiency, he does not need five hours to complete a marathon, so he has never run that long. But the global average marathon runner's time is between 4 hours and 20 minutes to 4 hours and 40 minutes.

Extensive data collection will inform footwear innovation through multiple sets of shoes, enabling Nike to develop running shoes suitable for any runner, whether they are elite marathon runners or casual joggers.

The Turf Lab has the largest amount of data captured in the NSRL, and what Nike says may be the largest in the world. Here, force plates below the surface monitor games and more controlled experiments, allowing researchers to collect data on up to 22 players — the number of people on the football field during the game — who interact with each other at different speeds And direction to move, turf, cleats and balls. The turf also has a screen that can project targets and record the accuracy of shooting and passing.

Nike pays special attention to two things in football players' footwear that are very different in function-the soles used for traction and the type of movement required to dribble, pass and kick the ball.

Simulate shots in the Nike Sports Research Laboratory. Image source: Nike

Simulate shots in the Nike Sports Research Laboratory. Image source: Nike

The 200 cameras around the area capture sub-millimeter motion, and there are 15 force plates under the turf. By measuring the movement of athletes in a controlled environment, researchers can gain insight into the smallest changes to achieve performance and protection, and many research results can be applied to other sports such as baseball, football, and rugby.

During the football test, I simulated shooting opportunities. This includes a shuttle run, as if I was dealing with a defender, running around a defender, and then shooting at the target projected on the screen inside the goal.

In this simulation, they captured my strength when I cut in, the timing and agility of the entire route, the timing of my decision-making on the goal, and the accuracy of the ball relative to the goal.

The results of this test will indicate the size of the athletes, their explosiveness and the speed at which they push off the force plate. In addition to the traction of the shoes, power is also transformed into their speed of movement. If the traction is insufficient, the same level of force will cause the speed to slow down.

The shoe upper provides very good grip but poorly closed shoes can cause the foot to slip inside the shoe, because although the shoe effectively interacts with the ground, the foot does not.

In contrast, an upper that provides good sealing and poor traction will fit the foot, but will cause the shoe to slip on the ground. This data allows such changes to be made to the footwear.

The force plate below the adjacent basketball court captures similar data for basketball players.

Surrounded by motion capture cameras, players wear sensors to track their heart rate and their movement speed on the court. These sensors can be projected onto a large screen on the wall in real time. In addition, a force plate with a 4K camera below it is located under the basket, which can record the interaction between the sole of the sneaker and the floor.

Combined with the tracking data of the motion sensor during the entire training process, according to the stiffness of the sneaker or the thickness of the sole, they can track the impact of the shoe on the speed, and observe and view the connection between the sole and the floor while the sensor is used to track the athlete during the entire exercise Heart rate.

Another camera in the basket records the position of the ball as it passes. The data collected from these shots provides suggestions on functional adjustments to make the shots pass through the basket more consistently and effectively.

Understanding the moisture management needs of different wearers provides designers with guidelines for designing more functional clothing. We visited two climate chambers, one is hot and the other is cold. The temperature can be adjusted from -20 degrees Celsius to above 50 degrees Celsius; the humidity is from 10%-90%; the wind speed is controlled; and the spectral outlet with the sun's rays is used Two different types of light bulbs are matched to simulate the radiant heat of the sun.

These rooms can be set so precisely that their hot water tank was set to 34 degrees Celsius and 70% humidity on the day we visited-the exact weather conditions during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on August 6. Athletes must treat heat exhaustion.

Using the climate chamber, Nike can evaluate how different clothing designs or functional zones have the greatest impact on making clothing more breathable.

Since sweating helps regulate body temperature, hot cells are used to study consumer sweating responses and how they change according to gender, age, and body type.

They showed us their Vapor Match men's football jerseys, pointing out that the changes in the knitted fabric are divided into the most concentrated areas of sweat, which can be seen in the third picture here.

On the contrary, Nike NSRL Transform Jacket shows the performance of different thermal needs of outdoor running. The sleeves can be pulled apart and tucked into the cavity on the back of the jacket, and the detachable down padding can adapt to the transition from stepping outside to the plateau. They found that daily runners averaged about 5 kilometers per run, and the biggest change in their insulation requirements was between 2.5 and 3 kilometers at the beginning. After that, it will be adjusted during the remaining exercises, also for those who run more than 5 kilometers.

Finally, they have hot mannequins-sweat! -In order to test the partition function without applying pressure to the human body. Between climate control and tireless body testing, they can provide the design team with more work.

We hear a lot about mental resilience in the sports world, so Nike also wants to understand that athletes’ thinking makes sense, especially when they affect performance.

The research and recovery of NSRL goes far beyond the massage, acupuncture, and other physical needs of rest and maintenance available in the laboratory. They also considered the mental state of the subjects.

Mental health has become a factor in the media discussing elite athletes, whether it is Naomi Osaka's opt-out of the press conference or Simone Byers publicly stated that she needs to participate in the women's all-around final of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Before the baseline measurement, they gave me a cognitive assessment, and at the end of the day, we learned. Surprisingly (and possibly deliberately), the assessment can easily switch between two athletes, just like it does to human daily behavior.

In pointing out that uncertainty is often much greater than certainty, the team discussed decision-making and how different results indicate whether athletes are more inclined to make decisions from a loss prevention or risk aversion perspective.

These findings can be similarly applied to cognitive recommendations, just like the formal or functional recommendations provided by other tests. They not only strive to create better clothing and footwear, but also strive to improve all aspects of athletes' abilities.

For example, an athlete who needs control can focus as little as possible on the result itself, and paying more attention to the result can be used as an opportunity to benefit future competitions and even the process. Similarly, sports psychologists recommend using mental imagery or imagining future positive results, rather than staying at a certain moment or missed shots.

Ultimately, the new LeBron James Innovation Center will contribute to the well-being and progress of athletes because it will provide faster innovation in Nike apparel and footwear.

Since everything is through steps to gain greater opportunities, rather than removing the entire team from the list in a building, it will be incredible to see the future of this space and its output.

LeBron James Innovation Center lobby. Image source: Nike

LeBron James Innovation Center lobby. Image source: Nike