Nike Introduces ‘Boob Robot’ & Sweating Mannequin To Test Its Sports Bras

In the world of sportswear giants, it appears sports bras are having a moment. In February, Adidas launched a NSFW bra campaign celebrating breasts of all sizes after it redesigned all of its offerings to perfectly fit women of all shapes and sizes.

Now, Nike is joining in on the trend, announcing it has created innovative technological solutions that will allow it to better fit and test its sports bras. 

At an event celebrating the brand’s 50th anniversary, it revealed it has been working on a ‘Brabot’, a “boob robot” that mimics the feel of breast tissue in order to allow designers to accurately test the different styles of bras as it performs different moves and stretches.

According to The Independent, Nike didn’t stop just there. In order to ensure its sports bras lived up to even the most arduous of workouts, the company invented a “thermoregulation mannequin” named ‘Haley’, which will provide the ultimate sweat test for its products.

Together with these two innovations, as per Well + Good, the firm is expanding its database of body scans, using artificial intelligence (AI) to capture 3D measures of thousands of women and the way their breasts move and react during exercise.

Dr Bridget Munro, Nike’s Women’s Research Director, told the site it now has acquired more knowledge on the female physique “than ever before,” and that by investing in this area of research, the brand wants to be able to create better products to address women’s needs and wants.

Furthermore, the label unveiled an expanded range of sizes for its sports bras and leggings. The former will now be available in over 70 cup sizes and three levels of support—light, medium, and high—while the latter will come in sizes ranging from extra small to 4X. 

As Melissa Schirripa, Nike’s Vice President of Global Apparel, put it, the brand hopes its inclusivity efforts will reinforce the notion that “sport will never be defined by size.” 

[via HYPEBEAST, The Independent, and Well + Good, images via Nike Women]