Researchers have developed a ‘bionic’ bra which adjusts automatically according to breast movement.
So if the user is wearing the bra – which looks like regular sports bra – while running the bra will tighten and become more supportive, and if the user is standing still the bra will loosen.
As the inventors of the bra said, it will make wearing a sports bra a much more comfortable experience than it currently is – especially for large breasted women.
“Unfortunately, the most supportive sports bras tend to be the most uncomfortable to wear,” Dr. Julie Steele, a co-creator of the bra and director of UOW’s Breast Research Australia facility said in a written statement.
The bra is made from coiled nylon fibres which Professor Wallace, a co-creator of the bra told Fairfax Media, are what work to tighten the bra.
“They [the coils] shrink and provide constriction in response to too much movement,” he said.
The bionic bra comes at a time when research says that as many as 85 per cent of women are wearing the wrong size bra or ill-fitting bra, with the health consequences of doing so including back and neck pain and poor posture. Meanwhile Bra Research Australia say on their website that 70% of women experience breast pain during exercise.
The bionic bra, which is still in development stages, was presented at the Biomechanics Conference at the University of Wollongong this month.
