Helmet manufacturer Schutt Sports has launched a custom-fit football helmet. The F7 UR1 helmet aims to replace the usual small, medium, or large fits, and instead be solely designed for each individual head.
Schutt worked with Jay White, CTO of body-mapping company Falcon Pursuit to develop the new system. A fitting helmet equipped with 10 sensors is first used to measure a player’s head. Thousands of measurements are then sent to a computer, allowing the Schutt team to create a digital pressure map of a player’s unique head shape. That pressure map is then used to create the custom-fit interior padding for the helmet.
“For an athlete, fit is about how the helmet feels, not about an off-the-shelf size. The UR1 custom helmet maximizes an athlete’s fit for maximum performance,” said Kip Meyer, General Manager and VP of Sales and Marketing at Schutt, in a press release. “The UR1 is the most versatile, custom configured helmet in football history.”
Schutt’s pressure mapping system allows for more than 16 trillion possible padding configurations, according to the company’s press release. The company also claims that 37 percent of NFL players wear Schutt helmets. The new F7 UR1 custom-fit helmets will retail for under $1,000 according to ESPN.
SportTechie Takeaway
The custom-fit F7 UR1 is based on Schutt’s F7 LTD helmet, which ranks as the top-rated helmet in Virginia Tech’s helmet safety ratings. VICIS, the helmet manufacturer which recently received investment from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, currently ranks second on that list.