When looking for new ideas from talented young minds, The Royal College of Art exhibition at London Design Festival is always a good start. This year, Tender Revolution showed what RCA design graduates from various disciplines imagined to resist rigid systems. Part of the curated strand A Softer World by Alex Tieghi-Walker, where designers explore empathy, tactility and connection, the exhibition had a strong focus on wearable designs.

RCA Tender Revolution. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Modular snow shoe

Z-TREK, by Zhibo Yang is a terrain-responsive snow-hiker footwear system. Rather than offering one shoe, it is a modular system that lets the user adapt their footwear to different conditions.

Z-TREK by Zhibo Yang. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Z_TREK by Zhibo Yang. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Made for terrains from ice to snow melt, the design is inspired by how animal feet are structurally adapted to winter grounds. It uses principles of surface expansion, grip control and drainage in the natural world to inform parametric modeling and structural design decisions.

Z-TREK by Zhibo Yang. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Z-TREK by Zhibo Yang. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Z-TREK by Zhibo Yang. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Cashmere, merino and linen

With her project Modern Nomads: Heritage in Motion, Lydia Lin visualises the idea of modern nomads through the persona of female aviators. Made for a competition with Loro Piana, the design is made of cashmere, merino and linen, using software that enables the designer to program the knit for a specific shape without cutting the fabric.

Modern Nomads: Heritage in Motion by Lydia Lin. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Modern Nomads: Heritage in Motion by Lydia Lin. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Adaptive fashion

Huili Jin, a fashion designer and creative pattern maker is inspired by the belief that fashion should be accessible to everyone. Her project What Do I Want To Wear? addresses the common challenge of independently putting on pants faced by wheelchair users. The pants can be put on from the top while seated, improving independence and comfort through careful fabric, seam, and pattern choices.

What Do I Want To Wear? by Huili Jin.. Photo by Anki Delfmann

What Do I Want To Wear? by Huili Jin.. Photo by Anki Delfmann

What Do I Want To Wear? by Huili Jin. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Pockets

The Pocketed Body by Audra Grays is a series of garments that reclaim pockets as both function and feminist statement and put them at the center of the design. Made from post-industrial textile waste, the project examines how pockets shape gender roles, while serving the needs of urban commuters.

Photo by Anki Delfmann

The Pocketed Body by Audra Grays. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Banana-waste textile

MUSATEX by Carmen Danae Azor is turning banana and plantain waste into zero-synthetic textiles. Sourced from organic farms and processed by women's cooperatives, the fibres cut carbon emissions by 94 percent compared to cotton, needing no chemicals or extra irrigation. Using low-impact methods like felting and hand weaving, the project preserves material integrity while opening new design possibilities.

MUSATEX by Carmen Danae Azor. Photo by Anki Delfmann

MUSATEX by Carmen Danae Azor. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Dresses to colour in

Shino Hitosugi softens the border between designer and consumer with her project Brand New Flower by inviting them in to participate in the creation of the garment. Made from paper and featuring black and white patterns, her dress lets visitors leave their mark via coloured pens.

Brand New Flower by Shino Hitosugi. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Brand New Flower by Shino Hitosugi. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Brand New Flower by Shino Hitosugi. Photo by Anki Delfmann

Garments you can smell

Ruwanthi Gajadeera immerses visitors in the underwater world with A Scented Reflection on Ocean Pollution, where pollution is felt through touch and scent rather than statistics. Yarn and textiles evoke coral bleaching and ocean currents, while a crafted fragrance contrasts pure waters with chemical traces of human impact.

A Scented Reflection on Ocean Pollution by Ruwanthi Gajadeera. Photo by Anki Delfmann

A Scented Reflection on Ocean Pollution by Ruwanthi Gajadeera. Photo by Anki Delfmann

See a video of the visit

Watch the RCA Tender Revolution Design Postcard to get a more immersive feeling for the exhibit:

Bicycle helmets have come a long way. Research shows that mere plastic shells and bits of foam aren't cutting it; in bike crashes, major damage can occur when the rider's head is subjected to rotational forces, and manufacturers are increasingly recognizing that new design approaches are needed to counter this. As British engineer Jamie Cook, who co-founded 3D-printed bike helmet company HEXR, explains:

"Helmets have always been built to sacrifice their structure in order to protect the helmet wearer. But the conventional approach to absorb energy has always resulted in helmets that work like some kind of second skull, focusing their protection strategy on basic impacts that happen directly.

"But we now know that it's rotational forces generated by angled impacts that contribute to the stretching and shearing of brain tissue. We also know that doctors and scientists believe that this kind of damage is a primary cause of traumatic brain injury."

A company called Wavecel Technologies, which we looked at here, has developed an energy-redirecting grid inside the helmet. Here's how that works when subjected to rotational force:

Cook has developed his own approach, after a particularly compelling testing session at HEXR. "We were busy developing a cycling helmet we hoped would show promising numbers for mitigating rotational force. One day while testing new ideas in the lab, the shell completely disconnected upon impact:"

"Because this kind of thing happens all the time when moving fast and testing rough samples, we didn't think anything of it. But when we saw the test results, we were floored."

The very act of the shell disconnecting, it turns out, meant that the shell took a bunch of energy with it. Inspired, Cook devised the Release Layer System (RLS). With this design, the inner portion of the helmet is covered in ball bearings.

1. Patented Release Panels

2. Fastened to a Bearing Layer

3. Bonded to the helmet shell

This arrangement allows the outer panels to shear in an impact. Adding that capability makes a massive difference, as you can see below:

The "angled-anvil" drop test shown [above] is the standard way to measure how well a helmet can dissipate rotational force. [Watching it,] you can see how a conventional helmet spins because of the rotational forces that have been created by the angled impact. In comparison, the same helmet with RLS spins much less because of the technology's remarkable ability to redirect the dangerous rotational energy away from the wearer's brain.

In a pooled analysis, including 68 different helmets tested by Folksam Insurance between 2019 and 2023, RLS was shown to reduce the relative risk of concussion by 76% compared to conventional helmets tested in this set. RLS was also shown to reduce the relative risk of concussion by 63% when compared to helmets equipped with Mips [Multi-directional Impact Protection System] in this data set.

After years of testing and development, RLS is ready for prime time. Cook spun RLS off as its own company, which he now runs, and the system made its debut this month with HEXR's $150 Miden RLS helmet. Manufacturer Canyon will also reportedly be incorporating RLS in their forthcoming Deflectr Trail Helmet, though no launch date had been announced at press time.

The Antigravity AI, which we wrote about here, is a drone that captures video in 360°. It uses software to remove any view of the drone and rotors itself, yielding pure capture.

Antigravity A1

However, for now the A1 needs to be piloted. Surely in the future it will be autonomous. Until that day comes, competitors like GoPro, which require you to be physically attached to the camera during capture, still have a shot. Hence GoPro has just unveiled their Max 2, which like the A1, also offers 8K 360° video.

GoPro Max 2

As with the A1, the 360 tech in the Max 2 means you can choose your angles after the fact, while editing the video.

GoPro's software also removes the selfie stick from view. The resultant video is still a bit awkward though, as the user is still visibly holding their arm out in space.

The company has introduced a couple of UX improvements. The Max 2 features easily-replaceable lens covers; should they become damaged, you can simply twist it off and twist on a replacement.

They've also designed a magnetic mounting system, so the camera doesn't need to be threaded onto anything.

The $500 camera will be available on September 30th. The A1 is expected to launch next January for around $1,300, so groundedness aside, GoPro's offering will still have a place in the market.

Stephen Fazio was an engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology when he came up with an idea for a toy. He collaborated with buddy Austin Hillam, then an engineering student at Brigham Young University, to create the ZipString.

It uses a tiny motor to rapidly drive the string in an airborne loop, seemingly defying physics:

Their invention went viral on TikTok in 2021; by 2022 they were on Shark Tank; by 2023 they'd launched the product, including with a Walmart contract; by 2024, they'd landed in Target and shipped a million units.

Fazio and Hillam aren't sitting still in 2025. They've adapted their design into this ZipString Aracna, a Spider-Man-like wristborne model that glows in the dark:

It's currently up on Kickstarter, where it's netted $567,817 at press time, with 13 days left to pledge. The units start at $40.

With a sharp chisel, a skilled carpenter can create a hinge mortise in less time than it takes to set up a router and jig to do it. That said, there are still those who prefer to perform the task with a router, and this presents a problem if installing hinges with corners. Since router bits are round, they can only create mortises with rounded corners.

British tool manufacturer Trend Tool Technology invented their Trend Corner Chisel to remedy this.

It's a spring-loaded corner-shaped steel cutter suspended within an aluminum block.

You square the body against two adjacent edges of the mortise, deliver a hammer blow, and voila.

The tool runs $31.

Most museums have massive storage areas, where they store all of the stuff that's not in the exhibition halls. These storage areas are always closed off to the public. But London's Victoria & Albert Museum has done something really cool, and turned the storage area itself into an accessible destination in its own right. It's called the V&A East Storehouse.

The space almost reminds me of the Collector's Museum in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

It opened earlier this year, and was designed by NYC studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro and British architecture firm Austin-Smith:Lord. Inside you'll find, in addition to books and proper archives, some 250,000 artifacts and objects sitting within curated displays.

You can even, by request, handle some of the objects. You can also access a loft overlooking the Conservation Studios, where you can observe curators at work, preparing objects for display.

There are even recreations of famous spaces that you can peer into. As two examples, here's Frank Lloyd Wright's Kaufmann Office, and the fabulous Frankfurt Kitchen, the then-radical ergonomic galley concept designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in 1926.

The entire space is four levels, and it looks like you could spend all day there. Note that the floor is a steel grate, so you'll want to consider your choice of footwear.

There is a cafeteria, and also a locker room at the entrance, where you're required to leave your bags and coats. (They don't want any artifacts falling into your pockets.)

The V&A East Storehouse is free to the public and no reservations are required. You can learn more here.

Hailing from Belgium, Brian Brocken is an instrumentation technician specializing in both electromechanics and automation. As a hobby, he picked up a junked robot arm built in 1999—so old that the 2-ton arm actually ran on floppy drives. Once used as a welding robot at the Eurostar train factory in Austria, by the time Brocken acquired it, the mothballed machine had dead internal batteries and a defective controller.

Using his skillset, he revived it, turning the relic into a workable CNC milling machine. The next question was, what should he use it for?

Simple: Build a full-size replica of the DeLorean from "Back to the Future." One that flies. "I saw the 'Back To The Future' movie again one night and thought that would be a great project," Brocken explains. "The model would be made out of EPS foam so it would even be light enough to maybe fly. So I started designing the model and did some calculations and it turns out to be actually feasible."

Brocken started the project in 2023, and here's where he's at now:

The wheels even freaking tilt!

Incredibly, getting the thing to fly wasn't the hard part; by using predominantly EPS, Brocken got the weight of the body down to 14kg (about 31 lbs). Four 3000W motors each driving a 30-inch propellor are enough to get it off the ground.

The harder part was much more prosaic: The door hinges, which are driven by a linear actuator. "The automatic door hinge design for the gulwing doors was probably the most complicated design part of the whole build (so far)," Brocken explains. "This is the part I spend the most time on. I didn't want the hinges to show on the roof of the car, I wanted an off-center hinge that's completely concealed inside the roof and door itself, similar to real car doors."

Brocken also had to figure out how to allow airflow through the vehicle, so that the propellors could do their thing. He thus designed a system of louvers. "I didn't want 2 gaping holes in the front and the back so I made a flap-system connected to a linear actuator through mechanical linkages. This way the blades are concealed when the flaps are closed and allow air to enter inside when they are open."

Brocken has been documenting the project as he goes. Here's his latest build video, where he shows his aluminum rig for flying tests, the louver system, how he got the wheels to tilt, and more:

By the end of the project, Brocken better get an invitation for an all-expenses-paid trip to one of those Universal Studios theme parks.

Within industrial design firms and in-house design teams, ID'ers often collaborate with mechanical engineers. Why not introduce them to each other earlier? A recent project at Auburn University did just that, to great success. The school partnered with KYRA, a medical equipment manufacturer, to task an ID and ME student team with designing a surgical device.

During arthoscopic surgeries, the surgical sites are kept clean by a flow of saline solution delivered from hanging ID bags. When the bags begin to reach empty, an alarm sounds, and a nurse must quickly swap the bag for a fresh one. Both the alarm and the bag-changing add an element of chaos to the proceedings and can distract the surgeon.

To address this, the students designed a device that automatically switches to a fresh bag as each one empties. "It provides a non-disruptive means of managing and monitoring the fluid for surgical procedures," ID professor Shea Tillman explains.

If you're wondering how students were entrusted with designing a surgical device: KYRA's president, CEO and co-founder Howard Miller is an Auburn alumnus. By chance he ran into Steve Taylor, Auburn's Senior Vice President for Research and Development, and the two began to talk. With 30 years' experience in the field, Miller understands the importance of both ME and ID in medical device design, and suggested having students from both departments collaborate on the project.

"it was incredibly rewarding to see the next generation of engineers bringing a real-world medical device all the way from concept to professional unveiling, and it was great to have industrial design included as well," Miller said.

Joseph Freeman, an ME student who worked on the project, agreed. "Working alongside industrial designers from day one was a great learning experience, and I truly believe our success wouldn't have been possible without that integrated approach," he said. "They showed me that usability and ergonomics are just as critical as functionality for a device like this."

The students got to unveil their device at this year's Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses' (AORN) conference in Boston.

Here's to hoping more schools with both ME and ID combine their departments on real-world projects like this. Practitioners of the two disciplines can only benefit by learning, early on, how to collaborate.

The X12, by Chinese mobility company XSTO, is a complete re-think of the electric wheelchair.

It features four independently-suspended wheels, each with their own electric motor, and a further ten motors that control the chair's disposition.

It also features a unique tread system that allows the user to ascend stairs, albeit backwards.

Descending stairs is done in a forward position.

The tread system also comes into play in "caterpillar mode," which is used to traverse gaps that a regular wheelchair couldn't handle.

The company says they're taking pre-orders and will launch the product later this year. Prices had not been announced at press time.

This post is presented by the K-Show, the world's No.1 trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry. Visionary developments and groundbreaking innovations will again lead the industry into new dimensions at K 2025 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Chris Lefteri: Hi Thomas, thanks for being here. How are the preparations going for the K Show?

Thomas Franken: Preparations for K are in full swing, as you can imagine. We have already started to prepare some of our halls where our big exhibitors are placed, especially with the big machines. We are using the entire exhibition center here at Messe Dusseldörf which translates to roughly 180,000 square meters net exhibition space, which is the equivalent of 25 football pitches. That's sometimes easier to get an idea how big the show is!

Chris Lefteri: That's incredible. And you're starting to build the K Show three months before, more or less?

Thomas Franken: Yes, because we have the big machines in some of the bigger halls like hall numbers 17, 16 and 15, we always have to install extra air conditioning, so for that reason we start roughly three months in advance.

Chris Lefteri: The K Show happens every three years which is a good amount of time for you to be able to overview the big changes in the industry. What do you see as the current and future trends, for example, within sustainability or technology, AI that you think are going to become more significant?

Thomas Franken: The most important topic currently is the circular economy, which has been evident in the last two or even three editions of the show. And digitalization is part of the circular economy because we always know from the industry that you cannot do the circular economy without digital and AI solutions. I'm also very interested in the reputation of plastics from a sustainability point of view and the responsibility our industry holds in terms of taking care of our people.

I'm also very interested in the shortage of skilled workers. We have always been interested in exploring how to attract young talent to the industry, but it has never been the highest priority. For the 2025 edition however it is becoming one of the hot topics. This will be mirrored in our program as for the first time we have a lot of things to attract young talents to the industry. This is something that is quite new and not seen in the previous editions.

Chris Lefteri: You mention digitalization, sustainability and circularity. Is there an example of something that you want to highlight as a subject?

Thomas Franken: For sure, we have a lot of exhibitors, especially from the recycling sector, coming up with new solutions, like tracking materials, sorting materials, etc. Here AI is one of the key enablers to make the circular economy for plastics happen. I think it's very important to see plastic waste as a resource in the future and not just material for landfill. So, the question then becomes how to really sort the waste. I think the industry has been collecting data for a while and it's now able to really make use of this data with AI. The digitalization is really the enabler to make the circular economy happen. Some of the exhibitors have already announced that they will have some new solutions for especially these kinds of things, let's say, using AI solutions in technology to make circular economy happen.

Chris Lefteri: Recycling must be one of the big areas in terms of exhibitors that has been growing?

Thomas Franken: Yes. That's the case. As you can see from the layout of the exhibition, we have three different colours and almost two-thirds of the exhibition is in blue, which is technology. We have tried to place all exhibitors coming up with recycling solutions in halls 9 and 10, creating a clear segmentation. This is for sure a growing part of the show and also a growing part in the industry - more and more exhibitors are coming up with new solutions and innovations.

Chris Lefteri: Yes, for me, processing innovation is one of the most interesting areas.

When I'm walking around scouting for exhibitors to visit for my design tour, you have to really look quite precisely to find some material innovation. In previous years, there's always been the new materials, let's say new waste streams that are being used as fillers. But also, the exhibitors that really got my interest were those with the processing innovation and I think this year recycling is going to be the area that I will focus on. It's the big raw material suppliers that have, let's say, new grades of circular materials or bio-based materials, but I think these are quite well known. The recyclers however are less media-interesting and they are harder to find.

Thomas Franken: You're right there. And I think even the recyclate's are somehow a new type of new material and will be used more and more in the future with different kinds of application. Yet it is hard I think how to have a clear standard or quality of these recyclate's because you don't always know where they're coming from. It is different to if you use natural resources such as oil for example. This is becoming one of the tough questions in the industry – it is the industry's job to keep the quality and also find more and more applications, where you can use them.

Chris Lefteri: I notice the K Show has the slogan The Power of Plastics. So why did you choose that?

Thomas Franken: Yes, as you know, for each edition of the K Show we have key themes, chosen as interesting topics and discussion points in the industry. For K 25 however we wanted to frame these three hot topics for the first time with the slogan. The three hot topics are Circular Economy, Digitalization and Caring about People and for that reason we created the slogan, The Power of Plastics. It's meant to underline, or sum up the important role of plastics in shaping the future and where the industry is heading to.

Chris Lefteri: For me, The Power of Plastics is about understanding the value, the opportunity and the scale that plastics have. It's very easy to be drawn into catchy stories about, let's say, unusual waste streams but actually, the biggest opportunity is through plastics. Let's say, for example, one single plastic is used to make an entire product. This has much more opportunity for impact because I can recycle it and it's a stream of material that already exists. Yet, plastics is something that people almost don't see as being the opportunity to solve the problem. And what I love about the K Show is finding these very, very niche suppliers who do something really quite incredible that for me as a designer, I interpret in my own way and say, "Oh, but you could use it for this instead!" And they've never thought about it like that.

Thomas Franken: You're right. I think people always see plastic as a problem. But without plastics, you cannot really answer the questions in the future. Plastics will play an important role in answering and finding solutions for the challenging times we might have in the future. There are so many real solutions with plastics, if you think about reducing CO2 emissions with lighter vehicles, or using less energy. For instance, packaging is one of the biggest applications for plastics, but plastic packaging is also helping to reduce food waste, which is a positive thing that needs to put more to the public. This is The Power of Plastics tries to underline. Plastic is also helping to solve these questions and matters in future and the easiest answer people find at the moment is to say, "Well, plastic is a problem, and we have to avoid plastic," but plastics will play an important and essential role in the future. Without plastic, it's not possible to.

Chris Lefteri: Yes. But like you said, it's these secondary benefits of plastic, like packaging that keeps food for longer, that people forget to look at and see the opportunities and the benefits.

What I would like to see, what I hope to see, is what kind of new materials are coming through, like technology that can analyze traditional plastics to formulate bio-based compounds based on existing technologies, using AI. This is where I'm really keen to look this year, to see where that level of technology is going to have an impact and how AI is used, for example, in modeling technology to create surface effects or surface functionality, like staying clean or water resistance or antibacterial. I mean where AI isn't just about the chemicals, but about the surface and creating textures that have some added functionality. For example, the lotus effect as a natural texture. So that's for me where I'll be looking. I'm trying to really look past the, I wouldn't say greenwashing, but "Hey, come on, you've got to back this up!" You've got to show me something a little bit more because I'm going to be quite particular in making sure that they deliver if they say something.

I also believe it isn't just about problem solving and functionality, it's also about aesthetic and the story of materials. This is where the opportunity lies as a CMF designer. I go to the Milan Furniture Fair in April every year, because this is where we see the trends. This is where we see the aesthetics. If I then go to the K Show, I can put these two things together. I'd say that's the power of the K Show actually.

Thomas Franken: Yes, I also think the material producers and the processors, and the kind of products they're showing, are really interesting for CMF designers.

Chris Lefteri: How should people best prepare when visiting the K show? The only thing I personally can say in terms of preparation is to just keep a bottle of water in your bag and wear the most comfortable shoes you have because I don't want to stop. I mean, really, when I go, I don't stop. I don't stop for breaks because there's no time for me and I'm very determined, I'm very much on a mission. For me, it's not just a casual thing. I really want to soak up as much as possible and by the end of it, I'm absolutely, absolutely exhausted. That brings to me the question of the Matchmaking tool to make the visit efficient, which seems like the perfect tool to help with this?

Thomas Franken: Yes, what makes trade show so special is that you want to see as much as possible in the short timeframe people often have. I think you can get some general orientation with our exhibitor database and the mapping. We offer a lot of services on our homepage and also in the apps you can browse our exhibitors so that you can find out the exhibitors you want to visit and then ask the system to make the best tour.

Chris Lefteri: That's great! So you have a tool that allows me to find the most efficient route between the exhibitors? I didn't know that that existed. Is that on the app or is that on a website?

Thomas Franken: It's on both. If you log in as a visitor for the show you can just browse the exhibitor database, choose all the exhibitors you would like to visit and then you can also see where they are placed and then – it's like on Google Maps – you can plan a route for visiting all the destinations you would like to see.

We also have our new matchmaking tool where you can get in contact with our exhibitors. The main aim of this system is to bring together our visitors on one side and exhibitors on the other side, even in advance before the show starts. You can say, "Well, I'm interested in different parts of the industry and I would like to find innovations for a specific topic." And then the system will give you suggestions and recommendations of some exhibitors. If something is really interesting for you, you can even get in contact with the company before the show starts.

Chris Lefteri: Yeah, fantastic, fantastic.

Thomas Franken: This is also available in the app because for sure you don't want to bring your laptop with you everywhere. If you already arranged meetings with some of the exhibitors, you can directly see it in your app because it's linked to your profile.

Chris Lefteri: Yes, when I'm giving talks about resources that designers can go to in order to understand and research materials, even if it's in Asia, where they're not likely to travel to Düsseldorf, I highlight the opportunities that the website has in terms of finding resources and inspiration so you don't necessarily have to go there because there's also a lot of information that's on the website. It's a very rich tool.

Here's another question for you. What are you personally looking forward to?

Thomas Franken: There are many things I'm really looking forward to, because as you can imagine, if you're preparing a massive show like K, more than two years in advance, everything is in preparation for the final opening moment. This is the most important and exciting point for me, especially on the first day when we're opening the gates and you see that people from all over the world are coming together, it really is an incredible atmosphere. Everyone is really motivated and curious to discover what's new in the industry.

Chris Lefteri: Yes, I think you touched on something, which is the feeling that it has. And on the opening day, like you said, literally people are flooding into the halls. That's something that I should have asked at the beginning: what's your general feeling from the plastics industry? We talked about technologies and advancements and trends, but you have a very unique position because you're talking to many exhibitors visiting different countries. So, in capturing the mood of the plastics industry, what do you think the mood is?

Thomas Franken: Especially right now, economically speaking, the situation is more challenging than maybe in the past. But something really special in the industry, is that everyone is really optimistic about the future. Everyone wants to be a part of shaping and setting the course for the future for our industry.

Chris Lefteri: There must be new types of business models that are developed, let's say, as a result? One, for example, that I worked with, was a company who evaluate the circularity potential of a compound, and they give you a scorecard, like a traffic light. Apart from the recyclers, are there new types of companies that you see have been set up? New types of exhibitors?

Thomas Franken: We see that there are a lot of exhibitors coming up with digital solutions for the industry. And maybe also, as you just mentioned, with evaluating these new materials and the recycling part. Especially if I look into the Start-Up Pavilion, you see that the young and dynamic companies are always coming up with new solutions from the digitalization part and also the circular economy.

Chris Lefteri: Yes. So again, like you said at the beginning, this connection between the digital and the circular, this is where there is opportunity for new things.

Thomas Franken: Is there anything you're really looking forward to?

Chris Lefteri: I love German food, I love a beer and a good traditional German meal, which is something I always look forward to! In terms of the K Show, it is this moment of unexpected discovery. Of seeing opportunities that the exhibitor doesn't always see, but through my lens as a designer, as a material CMF designer, I can interpret. Yes, and also being able to get a sense of where the industry is, where plastics is going in the future.

So, my last question for you, which is something that I've asked everybody that I have interviewed: what's your strongest memory of a material from childhood, and why?

Thomas Franken: I think it's quite funny. I'm thinking of a material like foam or something like that. Something you can really change the shape of, but then it comes back to its original shape. I always thought that was interesting because wood for instance, you can cut it down, but it stays as it is. Foam on the other hand you can really change but then it always goes back to its original form. It was something I remember that was quite special for me when I was three or four years old.

Chris Lefteri: Was it a toy?

Thomas Franken: I think it was maybe bath sponge, it was in the shape of a boat or something and you could play with it, you could squeeze it, you know, you could put the water in it, but then it always came back to the original design or form. Somehow, I remember that I really liked these kinds of things.

Chris Lefteri: Good. Good. Then that's it. Thank you for our conversation. Really looking forward to the K Show!

Thomas Franken: Same. Thank you!

NOTE: Chris Lefteri will be running design tours at the K Show on the 12th & 13th October. If you are interested in participating RSVP to ktour@chrislefteri.com

Something interesting happened during the pandemic: Since real-life Formula One races were shut down, drivers competed in virtual events using racing simulators. No one could have predicted how wildly popular these events would be. Some 30 million people, all trapped in their homes by COVID restrictions, tuned in to 2020's F1 Virtual Grand Prix series.

The popularity of the series drove sales of F1 2019, Formula One's official Xbox/PlayStation/PC game. That in turn drove the sales of racing sim set-ups, which have now exploded in popularity; the racing sim market was around $384 million two years before the pandemic; today it's around $500 million; and it's projected to hit almost $2 billion by 2033.

All of which explains why PC and gaming perirpherals company Logitech is now selling an official, licensed McLaren Racing Seat for racing sim set-ups.

The seat is made of aluminum and padded with ModuFoam; these are modular foam insert pads that the user can place for a custom fit. The seat sits within a high-carbon steel frame, to which the user can attach (non-included) pedals and steering rigs.

The seat runs $600 and comes in any color you want, as long as that color is McLaren Orange.

Lastly, it's interesting to note the very different fate of another type of sim. Peloton also saw a massive boost during the pandemic, going from $910 million in sales in 2019 to $1.8 billion in 2020—but after that, the company fell off of a cliff. Peloton's shares, which peaked at $162, are worth about $8 today.

Why the difference in fates, since both offer simulated experiences? Probably because racing sims provide users with a simulation of an experience that they could never have in real life, whether we're under lockdown or not. But once things opened back up, it turns out that cyclists prefer the real thing, and/or doing it at a gym. There's a business lesson in there somewhere.