It’s been said that technology reaches its evolutionary pinnacle when it merges with style.
Sounds like a glib statement impatiently penned by some half-drunk, half-stoned 19th century writer (and indeed it may have been). But, as we’re learning in the 21st century, this idea may have far more credibility than people initially gave it credit for.
Aeronautical engineers have long been saying, “If it looks right, it’ll fly right.” And indeed, some of the most successful aircraft in the history of flight have also been some of the best-proportioned and most beautiful machines we’ve seen…
The P51 Mustang, which protected allied bombers over Germany during WW2… the F15 Eagle, America’s dominant air superiority fighter for the latter half of the Cold War… the Concorde (and its lesser-known Russian counterpart, the TU-144), which remain the only supersonic civilian transport aircraft ever to fly… the Space shuttle, the SR-71 Blackbird, many of whose speed records have stood for over 40 years…
The list goes on and on and on.
But where aerodynamic design can benefit from natural symmetry and visually stimulating lines, other technologies are less likely to synergize form and function.
Or so we thought…
Consider one particular family of high-tech products that, despite requiring cutting-edge materials and design, was never known for looks: human prosthetics.
In the past, a prosthetic limb was something that ideally wouldn’t be noticed at all, much less made to draw attention. For centuries, people suffering from birth defects or traumatic injuries from accidents or war wounds were offered devices designed for concealment of the condition…
That time has come to an end.
Today’s cutting-edge prosthetics have departed from the old philosophy of design — where discretion and privacy were the utmost requirement — and went radically in the opposite direction.
You may already have seen this particular item:
The double-amputee athlete you see in the picture above is using a pair of Flex-Foot Cheetah full-leg prosthetics made by Icelandic manufacturer Össur.
Shaped like a contorted leaf spring and possessing many of the same properties, the Cheetah isn’t designed to look like a real leg — but rather to act like one. And this startlingly simple yet highly sophisticated design does just that better than any prosthetic to ever hit the market.
While still far from its organic counterpart in terms of efficiency of energy return (a healthy leg can return 249% of the energy it absorbs on impact with a surface, while the Cheetah can only return 90%), the Cheetah is already good enough to put formerly disabled athletes into similar performance envelopes with able-bodied runners.
In 2007, for example, South African double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius became the first disabled athlete to compete against able-bodied runners, placing seventh in the British Grand Prix.
Oscar’s performance was so convincing, in fact, that race administrators launched a study to determine whether his artificial legs actually gave him an advantage over athletes with natural limbs…
The studies concluded no such advantage existed, but the fact that the question was ever posed proved a point.
On the strength of that success, American athletic apparel giant Nike has developed a “shoe” to fit the Össur Cheetah. It improves both shock-resistance and energy return for both professional and amateur runners.
Now, I don’t know about you (and yes, I was fully socialized as a child by my parents not to stare at people with disabilities), but if I turn my head to look at somebody wearing this thing, it’s not out of morbid curiosity or pity or anything like that, but out of sheer awestruck fascination.
Since technology is infinitely adaptable — and our natural legs are not — it only follows that when not running, a typical Össur Cheetah owner (who’s already shelled out $15K on the sporty model) might prefer something else for less physically strenuous activities…
Enter Bespoke Innovations, Inc.
For people who’d like to walk comfortably or hike over varied terrain, ride their motorcycles, or just head out on the town to do whatever people do when headed out on the town, there is a whole line of designer prosthetic legs that will perform any one of these functions — or all of them.
With a price tag of between $4,000 and $6,000, a custom-fitted, custom-produced leg can be had in a variety of finishes.
While they’re all more anthropomorphic than the Cheetah, none of them are designed to blend in with the natural tones of human flesh the way the prosthetics of old were. They do not attempt to hide the disability.
In fact, it can be argued that they draw attention to themselves and to the fact that their owner, for all intents and purposes, isn’t any less able than nature had originally intended.
So maybe there is some truth to the old belief that technology, when at its pinnacle, begins to appeal to the aesthetic as well as to the functional. Without a doubt, the current trend in high-tech prosthetics is a varied, application-specific approach to design and manufacture.
And no longer is the whole point of the device to hide the shame and socially-stigmatizing status of being “disabled” or “disfigured”… but to show that despite its challenges, life will go on with minimal loss of opportunity and physical potential.
While Bespoke Innovations Inc. remains a private company, Össur (OSSR-CO) trades for $8.65 at the time of this publication.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), which is expected to expand their market share within the prosthetic niche, trades at an all-time high of $65.
As a generation of war veterans returns from fighting overseas and legions of hopeful athletes push their boundaries and strive to do what was once unthinkable — open competition with their able-bodied counterparts — companies like these will transform would-be tragedies into stories of personal triumph.
And they’ll look good doing it.
To Your Wealth,
Brian Hicks
Check us out on YouTube!Brian is a founding member and President of Angel Publishing. He writes about general investment strategies for Wealth Daily and Energy & Capital. For more on Brian, take a look at his editor’s page.
