82
N. Bairagi and S. K. Bhuyan
4 Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to develop design criteria and concepts of adaptive functional sportswear for wheelchair tennis players in India, who have lost the mobility of
their legs due to poliomyelitis. The sportswear worn by the wheelchair-bound tennis
players is generally a basic knitted T-shirt and knitted loose/fitted Track pants made
out of cotton and polyester. The existing garments interfere with the movements on
a wheelchair and the braces and calipers used by the players, apart from other issues.
Therefore, there was a need to undertake studies on designing adaptive sportswear
for differently abled wheelchair tennis players of India.
User-centric research has been carried out to find out the problems related to the
players in real situations along with the conceptual design framework of Lamb and
Kallal (1992). Lee and Jin (2019) model for wheelchair users’ sportswear comfort
has also been used for design development. Additionally, infrared thermal imaging
(thermography) techniques were used to study the changes in the skin temperature
of the wheelchair-bound players during the match in a real set up, prior to conceptualisation. The prototypes developed were user-tested prior to proposing of design
concepts.
It was observed that during the match the cutaneous temperature of the players
the rise up to 33–34 °C in certain zones like shoulders areas, upper arms, below bust
area, sides of the trunk, thighs and crotch areas. This may be attributed to the muscles
which are more functional during the match and hence have higher cutaneous blood
flow. The minimum cutaneous temperature was observed to be 28 °C. The hot spots
are also due to the use of wheelchair, straps and calipers that restricts the airflow in a
sitting position. This needs to be taken into account while designing of sportswear in
addition to functional designs that facilitate the movements of the wheelchair during
the game, use of assistive devices used by the wheelchair-bound players, reduce
muscle strain and injuries faced by the wheelchair-bound players. The aesthetic
needs of both male and female players are similar in the aspect of concealed design
interventions that would not be visible to others. A female player on the other hand
would prefer sportswear that would hide the physical deformity of the body as well.
One of the limitations of the designs developed is that they need to be custom
made according to the size and physical attributes of the wheelchair-bound players.
References
1. Roy JL, Menear KS, Schmid MM, Hunter GR, Malone LA (2006) Physiological responses of
skilled players during a competitive wheelchair tennis match. J Strength Cond Res 20(3):665
2. Boorady LM (2011) Functional clothing- principles of fit. Indian J Fibre Text Res 36(4):344–
347
3. Kabel D, Black KM (2017) Clothing related barriers experienced by people with mobility
disabilities and impairments. Appl Ergonom 59(Part A):165–169
4. John TJ, Vashistha VM (2013) Eradicating poliomyelitis: India’s journey from hyperendemic
to polio free status. Indian J Med Res 137(5):881–894
N. Bairagi and S. K. Bhuyan
4 Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to develop design criteria and concepts of adaptive functional sportswear for wheelchair tennis players in India, who have lost the mobility of
their legs due to poliomyelitis. The sportswear worn by the wheelchair-bound tennis
players is generally a basic knitted T-shirt and knitted loose/fitted Track pants made
out of cotton and polyester. The existing garments interfere with the movements on
a wheelchair and the braces and calipers used by the players, apart from other issues.
Therefore, there was a need to undertake studies on designing adaptive sportswear
for differently abled wheelchair tennis players of India.
User-centric research has been carried out to find out the problems related to the
players in real situations along with the conceptual design framework of Lamb and
Kallal (1992). Lee and Jin (2019) model for wheelchair users’ sportswear comfort
has also been used for design development. Additionally, infrared thermal imaging
(thermography) techniques were used to study the changes in the skin temperature
of the wheelchair-bound players during the match in a real set up, prior to conceptualisation. The prototypes developed were user-tested prior to proposing of design
concepts.
It was observed that during the match the cutaneous temperature of the players
the rise up to 33–34 °C in certain zones like shoulders areas, upper arms, below bust
area, sides of the trunk, thighs and crotch areas. This may be attributed to the muscles
which are more functional during the match and hence have higher cutaneous blood
flow. The minimum cutaneous temperature was observed to be 28 °C. The hot spots
are also due to the use of wheelchair, straps and calipers that restricts the airflow in a
sitting position. This needs to be taken into account while designing of sportswear in
addition to functional designs that facilitate the movements of the wheelchair during
the game, use of assistive devices used by the wheelchair-bound players, reduce
muscle strain and injuries faced by the wheelchair-bound players. The aesthetic
needs of both male and female players are similar in the aspect of concealed design
interventions that would not be visible to others. A female player on the other hand
would prefer sportswear that would hide the physical deformity of the body as well.
One of the limitations of the designs developed is that they need to be custom
made according to the size and physical attributes of the wheelchair-bound players.
References
1. Roy JL, Menear KS, Schmid MM, Hunter GR, Malone LA (2006) Physiological responses of
skilled players during a competitive wheelchair tennis match. J Strength Cond Res 20(3):665
2. Boorady LM (2011) Functional clothing- principles of fit. Indian J Fibre Text Res 36(4):344–
347
3. Kabel D, Black KM (2017) Clothing related barriers experienced by people with mobility
disabilities and impairments. Appl Ergonom 59(Part A):165–169
4. John TJ, Vashistha VM (2013) Eradicating poliomyelitis: India’s journey from hyperendemic
to polio free status. Indian J Med Res 137(5):881–894