A Smarter Sport Science Lab
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Earth 2044
The athletic apparel retailer, SAVEN, is building the largest sports research facility on Mars. Photograph by Jacob Lund.
SAVEN, the second largest athletic apparel retailer and supplier on Earth, will expand onto the Red Planet by constructing a research facility in Valles Marineris. SAVEN Mars Sports-Research Lab (SMSLAB) will study physiology, psychology, biomechanics and nutrition in order to improve human physical performance on both planets. SMSLAB will be the first research effort of its kind by a company headquartered on Earth and will also be the largest sports research facility on Mars.
““The ‘Designed on Mars,’ ‘Made on Mars,’ labels have immense value for our brand, as consumers on earth are looking to emulate their Martian peers.””
In the last four years, athletic apparel and footwear companies began to compete for new terrestrial consumers interested in clothing and spacesuit technologies developed for Martians. Azalia Vivaldia, the CEO of SAVEN, states that “ the ‘Designed on Mars,’ ‘Made on Mars,’ labels have immense value for our brand, as our consumers on Earth are looking to emulate their Martian peers. The research and technological developments on Mars would enable SAVEN to remain at the cutting edge of sport science and apparel for athletes on both planets, for Martian Handball players and NFL Football players,” says Azalia Vivaldia, CEO of SAVEN.
SAVEN’s announcement for a new research lab comes a week after apparel supplier Redsport and the Martian Handball League signed an exclusive two-year jersey contract. This deal gives Redsport exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Martian Handball player jerseys to consumers on both Earth and Mars. Redsport has a first-mover advantage over SAVEN, Nike, and other athletic apparel giants, since the company started on Mars and already has an extensive manufacturing presence on the Red Planet.
SMSLAB will be designed and built by Ames Design Group, the renowned architecture and design firm that already has several Martian buildings in its portfolio, such as the Terraced Greenhouse. SAVEN and ADG have worked with Johns Hopkins University’s physiology department to explore new ways in which they can extract data from athletes on lower gravity.
“Companies look to Mars to bolster sales on Earth”
Co-Founder and Lead Designer of ADG, Thalia Ames, highlights “the fundamental goal of sports science labs on both planets is the same—the labs must be designed to maximize the collection of data on human performance by simulating various environments, pressures, and external conditions. Nevertheless, we at ADG plan to re-evaluate these first principles and see if there is anything else that SMSLAB can achieve, besides the obvious usage of lower gravity and environmental conditions on Mars.”
The SMSLAB represents a seismic change in the apparel and fashion industry, as companies look to Mars to bolster sales on Earth. Through the development of private labs on Mars, companies seek to develop and test new technologies that could benefit humans on both planets and also increase their brand appeal for consumers on Earth.
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