RESET_VI BALL
Tennis for visually impaired athletes is one the fastest growing sports in the contemporary scenario for popularity and fun. RESET is the direct answer to the thousands of specific needs that such entertaining and new activity requests. The entire project has involved exceptional experts in their own fields, from charities foundations to members from the International Blind Tennis Association (IBTA) as well as Inclusive sport development advisors and World Champion athletes. RESET has been designed throughout a series of tests with such incredible and talented people in a range of more than 15 hours with the players collecting their feedback and considering the positive impacts that such creations would have on sport and the individual’s life.
Client
Metro Blind Sport, IBTA
Multiple sources gave me a deep understanding of what the problem of VI Tennis is, the ball. The existing balls are manufactured in Asia and as a consequence the prices are not so accessible. The spongy material starts deteriorating after just a few hours from the beginning of the usage and it does impact the way balls bounce and the ability of the athletes to catch them, this creates a difficult environment where people always need to find good status ones to start/continue the activity. The ball has in its core a series of rattles that make a peculiar sound when it bounces on the surfaces, that means that players will never be able to react fast if the ball doesn’t bounce at least once on the court. This not only makes the activity slow and difficult but such equipment impacts the series of regulations that the sport has, the number of bounces allowed and the dimensions of the tennis court. At the moment it is considerably shortened compared to mainstream tennis. Last but not least, if the ball just makes a sound when it's moving what would happen if it stops rolling and I can’t find it? Will players always need to rely on external volunteers and sighted entities?
