Studies on Designing Adaptive Sportswear for Differently Abled Wheelchair Tennis Players of India

Abstract

This paper presents conceptual designing of adaptive sportswear for wheelchair-bound tennis players of India. The present study combines user-centric design development principles with the design process of Lamb and Kallal (1992), for designing of functional adaptive sportswear, as there are limited researches in this area in the Indian context. Additionally, the conceptual design framework for wheelchair users’ sportswear comfort proposed by Lee and Jin (2019) has also been used for designing concepts. The problems faced by the users were studied using ethnographic research methods to identify certain demands prior to designing concepts for the wheelchair-bound players. The qualitative data has been collected through observations, the structured questionnaire with users and stakeholders (coaches, doctors, physiotherapists and caregivers). Additionally, infrared thermal imaging (thermography) techniques were used to study the changes in the skin temperature of the wheelchair-bound players and thermoregulation during the match in a real set up, prior to conceptualisation. A pilot study was done with the wheelchair tennis players at Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, Bengaluru for this study. During the study, it was observed that three out of five players have lost the mobility of their legs due to poliomyelitis. Therefore, the designing criteria have been proposed for wheelchair-bound tennis players who have lost the mobility of their legs due to poliomyelitis.