Nike Concept Jet Provides Maximum Comfort For Athletes

Ask any coach, athlete, or Vegas oddsmaker and they’ll all tell you the same thing: home field advantage is real. Naturally, Nike wants to help level the playing field for the visitors.

Nike, in a recent collaboration with Seattle-based design firm Teague, helped create an all-new private concept jet to help boost performance for traveling sports teams by providing the ultimate comfort and athletic support. Whereas traditional flights and transportation can lead to loss of rest, cramped muscles, and more, the new concept jet will turn the tables as an airborne facility to restore, refuel, and rebuild.

One of the main issues, as any air traveler can attest, is space. For athletes, who are taller and wider than the average person, this issue is magnified. That’s why the new concept sees countless rows of seats replaced with large, spacious sections, and overhead bins completely eliminated for more headroom. By focusing on accommodating a basketball team, with a standard roster around 13 people compared to hundreds of passengers, Nike and Teague were able to create zones for seating and sleep, socialization, recovery, and nutrition.

The seating and sleep zone features player-numbered seats that fully recline to fit even a seven-foot-tall player, and the all-new Nike Flyknit mesh technology to provide privacy while still allowing a regulated amount of light. Teague also designed a ‘leg sleeve’ that could help with blood circulation by plugging into the plane’s HVAC system to fill with pressurized air.

The socialisation and celebration zone takes the place of typical cargo storage beneath the seating area, and the recovery zone is outside areas of heavy traffic to facilitate relaxation. Featuring a self-serve gallery, the nutrition zone allows players to create targeted meals.

One of the more noticeable contributions from Nike is the integration of wearable technology. Sensors embedded in players’ clothing feeds physiological data to trainers and staff to improve the recovery process and nutrition needs. Similarly, the bathrooms are designed with high-tech urinals to monitor player hydration and to send alerts for necessary Gatorade or electrolyte intake. Even in-flight entertainment is designed to accommodate post-game review and highlights.

The lavish designs spare no expense to improve any and all aspects of performance, while mimicking the lifestyle professional athletes are accustomed to. (Many of the materials used, such as wood and metal, would never pass stringent FAA regulations, but would work for a private jet.)

While the concept is nowhere close to a reality, it would be interesting to see if any of these new improvements could be added to commercial air travel. No one likes airline food, so possibly more self-serve galleries? Flyknit shades? Or maybe just seats that recline a bit more comfortably. With the main issue, and solution, being space, different routes for optimization without loss of seating is the main goal of many airlines. But, maybe there’s a greater market for comfort that an airline designed in this vein can cater to.

This article was originally posted here – http://www.psfk.com/2014/09/nike-concept-jet-athletes.html