Coolgrip

2022

In this project various digital fabrication tools were applied for the development of various prototypes. Inspired by contemporary research on thermo-regulation of the body, I researched the making of a hand cooling device. According to the research, dumping heat through the presence of special blood vessels beneath the skin on your hands and thereby dropping your core temperature can lead to dramatic improvement of endurance and strength. The effect is beginning to be leveraged by companies like Coolmitt. Currently these products are only in use by special forces and firefighters. I speculate that there is a big chance that thermoregulation and the accomponying performance improvements will find it’s way into the consumers market, and especially the fitness sphere.

As a former gym instructor myself, I’ve always been fascinated by getting the most out of a workout. Any protocol which potentially significantly improves endurance is therefore extremely valuable and is of course already evident in the shear amount of fitness supplements and machines. My goal has been to apply the tools of digital fabrication to build prototypes of such a handheld cooling device, with a focus on maximizing the contact with the skin and exploring materials with good thermo conductive propertes. The end result was a non-functional mockup with the estimated size and weight, a model showing an exploding view of the inner structure, and a functional model in the form of a temperature controlled plate.