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Elite Engineering, Innovative Design Autodesk AliasStudio Helps Polar Create Wireless Heart-Rate Measurement Devices. AliasStudio is excellent for designing our products. We couldn’t find a better solution for creating surfaces that come against the body. It gives us the flexibility and effectiveness we need to achieve our demanding aesthetic and technical objectives. —Olli Komulainen Senior Industrial Designer Polar Electro Oy It was while cross-country skiing on a cold day in the 1970s that Professor Seppo Säynäjäkangas got the idea for wireless heart-rate measurement. Not only did he turn his idea into a revolutionary sport tool, he also founded a company dedicated to these innovative instruments. First to identify how the variability in timing between heartbeats correlates with exercise intensity and recovery, Polar Electro Oy has developed many unique features to provide instant feedback on current fitness level, optimal training intensity, state of relaxation, and recovery. Today, the company has 21 global subsidiaries, manages a distribution network supplying over 35,000 retail outlets in more than 80 countries, and is home to 1,200 employees. To continue the tradition of innovation and design excellence started by Professor Säynäjäkangas all those years ago, designers at Polar are always looking for optimal processes and tools to help them achieve their vision for the best heart-rate measurement devices. One such tool is Autodesk® AliasStudio™ software, an industry-leading industrial design software for transportation and consumer products. All of Polar’s more than 20 products have been created using this software.
Understanding the Elite Athlete What sets Polar heart-rate monitors apart from the competition is the company’s commitment to understanding the needs and desires of athletes. And these needs are not only technical, but also aesthetic and ergonomic. For those rehabilitating from an injury to those training for the Olympics, Polar has a wide range of products, each with its own function and style. To achieve this delicate balance between engineering and art, Polar designers rely on AliasStudio design software to addresses the unique creative requirements of the entire industrial design workflow. “AliasStudio is excellent for designing our products. We couldn’t find a better solution for creating surfaces that come against the body,” says Olli Komulainen, Senior Industrial Designer, Polar Electro Oy. “It gives us the flexibility and effectiveness we need to achieve our demanding aesthetic and technical objectives.”
Make Design a Competitive Advantange. Step by Step The design process for each of these intricate products involves a perfect mix of right- and leftbrain thinking. The wristwatch systems need to be as small as possible, but with excellent visibility. They must fit well on the body and not hinder movement. “In sport design, you are always dealing with complex surfaces,” says Komulainen. “With AliasStudio we can do visual evaluation in real time, which allows us to keep the original concept intact.” Using AliasStudio, Komulainen manipulates digital surfaces directly using surface control points, which he describes as being like sculpting clay. Especially at the beginning of the modeling phase, he appreciates being able to quickly explore and experiment with shapes to find the right design solution. “AliasStudio also helps to keep the surfaces simple, which is extremely important in order to achieve top-quality surfaces for tooling and later modifications,” he adds. This complete control over surface shapes to achieve the exact form and surface quality required is one of the hallmarks of the software. RS800sd Running Computer Recently, Polar created a product that has been consistently breaking away from the pack. The RS800sd is a complete training solution for athletes, consisting of a wrist-top computer, a chest strap heart-rate transmitter, and a compact stride sensor that fits onto the athlete’s running shoe. Communicating wirelessly, these three components combine heart-rate and environmental measurements with information on running cadence (leg turnover), pace, and distance to provide the most complete overview of physical performance.
Since its release in October 2006, the RS800sd has won several important awards: the National Geographic Adventure Magazine 2007 Best of Gear award; the Running Accessory of the Year award from Runner’s World Magazine; and the Design Excellence award from the iF International Forum Design in China. “The RS800sd belongs to our high-end product group, which means there is a lot of hardware inside that causes extra work for the designers to stay true to the original design concept,” explains Komulainen. “AliasStudio really shines at this ‘concept to reality’ phase.” Down the Road Armed with the best talent, tools, and an unwavering vision to help athletes reach their personal best, Polar shows no signs of slowing down. The designers are always busy coming up with new ideas and unique creations, another reason Komulainen and his team appreciate that AliasStudio provides a set of tools for designers to efficiently experiment with and iterate ideas throughout the entire design and refinement process. Komulainen says that being able to deliver top-quality designs in less time is extremely important in a business with growing competition. With AliasStudio software, Polar can do just that—and sprint to the front of the pack.
To learn more about Autodesk AliasStudio software, visit www.autodesk.com/aliasstudio.
In sport design, you are always dealing with complex surfaces. With AliasStudio we can do visual evaluation in real time, which allows us to keep the original concept intact. —Olli Komulainen Senior Industrial Designer Polar Electro Oy
Autodesk and AliasStudio are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at anytime without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. 000000000000117888
