Running blind is a foundation that helps people with a (audio) visual impairment to practice a sport. They do this by running as a "buddy" with these people and instructing them while running. Tools are used to communicate instructions from the “buddy” to the rider. These tools range from primitive to complicated, depending on the rider's limitation. To make running together as fun and safe as possible, these products are specially developed for these people.

The product is a kind of bar that holds the rider on one side and his buddy on the other. The buddy can make movements with his hand that are communicated to the rider by means of the bar. Because of these so-called 'commands', the rider knows, without being able to see or hear anything, where to go or when to change his speed.

Elastic handles ensure that the product is both easy to hold and that it filters small unintended movements from the product while running. Ball joints at the ends of the rod ensure that hand movements can be made easily.

The whole is designed to be produced directly from a 3d printer for the specific application. In the future, Running wants to go blind to a system in which even more commands can be transferred.

After coming up with the tool and making a first design, Running blind needed a tangible product that could be used for testing. That's why we designed and created a series of prototypes for Running blind, all slightly different, that Running blind can use for user research and final design. The following aspects were discussed during this project:

• Mechanical design
• Prototyping
• industrial design
• Production