At the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), we apply scientific knowledge of biomechanics and human factors to improve our clients’ products.

We simulate scenarios of use for the products in realistic environments (from CAD to the prototype or finished product) in order to study the response from the users and the effect on comfort and security, whether by observation and the use of perception questionnaires or via measurements using biomechanical instruments.

Based on an analysis of the results, we give our clients solutions to improve their products, which may even include redesign, technical drawings or concept, or else technical specifications.

We advise our clients as regards development, whether referring to physical components of vehicles (seats or cockpit), interaction systems (screens, tactile or gesture interaction systems), an analysis of driver or passenger behaviour (travel sickness, stress, drowsiness or fatigue), or as regards the user’s comfort requirements (temperature, smell, sensory experience in the vehicle’s interior).

Our flexibility and dedication to service places emphasis on other non-technical factors such as knowledge of the market, institutional support to foster innovation, and how the accreditation and standardisation systems work in accordance with the regulatory bodies in the market; all of which are as relevant if not more so than aspects of the technical design of products and services.

We collaborate with our clients on the end user’s approval of the client’s developments (rolling stock, ticketing systems), as well as on conceiving new services (shared mobility) and products by analysing users’ trends and needs.

To do so, we use the existing scientific knowledge, the regulations applicable to the industry or related industries, or else we carry out trials with users in our laboratories or in the field, if the client so requires. Throughout this process, we have a great deal of interaction with the end client and with all of the parties involved through specialist technical staff who help integrate the boundary conditions specific to each client into the solutions.

As a result, we create proposals for improvement that may even include technical drawings or concept designs that the end client can easily implement.

We provide companies in the footwear and clothing industry with a full range of technological consultancy services to transfer the knowledge and technology created by our R&D activity.

Our work can be adapted to each client’s needs at any stage in the process of developing and selling products and services:

– Detection of users’ needs and preferences using methods such as surveys, focus groups or netnography.

– Strategic definition of a product or service to adapt to the user’s needs and the reality of the market.

– Conceptual and detailed design, providing innovative ideas as of the initial stages of conceptualising the product or service.

– Creation of prototypes, using rapid manufacturing techniques that bring innovation to the company and lower the cost of development.

– Selection of materials or redesign to optimise the product or service’s characteristics.

– Validation of innovative products and services under real conditions with users to ensure their success on the market.

– Support for production, distribution and sale processes involving users and influencers of the new product or service.

We provide technological consultancy for the different stakeholders in the tourism and leisure industry as regards lean methods for agile creation of products and services to match users’ preferences, expectations, needs and characteristics (UX).

Working hand-in-hand with a multi-disciplinary team of experts in design, user experience, usability and accessibility, with state-of-the-art environments for collaborative co-creation at our disposal, we help our clients develop the minimum viable products that are easy to test in the market. This enables them to reach the target tourists by taking into account their tastes and preferences, as well as the industry’s current and future trends.

At the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), we transfer the knowledge generated by our own R&D to methods for evaluating the capabilities of any sports equipment, material or product. We can also count on the trust of the main sports federations and entities that organise competitions when drawing up procedures and protocols to ensure the safety, functionality and quality of all the aspects involved in doing sports as varied as athletics, football, tennis, rugby, basketball, karate, paddle tennis or billiards.

We hold AENOR’s CTN147 standardisation committee secretariat, which in Spain deals with the creation of standards affecting sports matters. Through this committee, we promote and foster the adaptation and development of new regulations for the market, adapting them to the needs of all the stakeholders involved in it such as users, companies, public bodies, etc.

Furthermore, we adapt our knowledge and technology to give companies simple tools and methods that are affordable and easily introduced into their day-to-day work and their different business models. This helps them boost innovation and develop new products and services by themselves as quickly and flexibly as the market demands in order to keep up a competitive edge over time.

We work with all kinds of devices, from classic solutions such as wheelchairs, walking aids, orthoses, etc. to technological devices such as exoskeletons and tele-rehabilitation systems

With a multidisciplinary team of researchers and designers, we can take part in any phase of a device’s development, providing our know-how in detecting needs, user experience (UX), design, prototyping, modelling, simulation and evaluation of medical devices for rehabilitation and personal autonomy.

– Strategy: portfolio strategy, adaptation to the MDR and commercialisation of new devices.

– CE marking: creation of the technical file for the device, device classification, risk analysis, writing and updating the clinical evaluations, literature searches and creation of states of the art for the device.

– Surveillance: post-market surveillance plan, preparation of periodic safety update reports (PSUR).

Based on our experience and knowledge in this sphere of occupational health and well-being, we carry out consultancy projects with all kinds of organisations, applied to the following key areas:

– Evaluation and redesign of workplaces, adapting the requirements of workplaces to people’s abilities (reincorporation of injured workers, people with disabilities and elderly people).

– Development of ergonomic equipment.

– Designing and launching health promotion programmes by diagnosing the staff’s state of well-being, as well as participatory ergonomics programmes.

At the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), we provide customised technological consultancy services for companies in order to identify the most suitable technological innovation to improve their products and services for the child population’s needs.

We understand that fostering healthy growth and development among children is a factor that sets our clients apart. Hence, they need to know, measure, adapt and monitor their products, providing exceptional value.

Children’s footwear, clothing, play areas, playgrounds, furniture and medical devices must be adapted to foster children’s well-being.

In the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV), we have the necessary knowledge about children’s anthropometry, sizing, materials, shapes, comfort and patterns of motion throughout the different stages of childhood. And above all, we know how to apply this knowledge to advise our clients and foster business innovation based on the child population’s well-being.

Based on our knowledge acquired about the elderly population and dependent people, at the Instituto de Biomecánica (IBV) we carry out consultancy projects to help companies throughout the process of developing products and services, as of the early stages related to detecting people’s needs and expectations up to the improvements and validation of the end products before they are put on sale.

To do so, we can count on a multidisciplinary team of experts who analyse elderly people’s interaction with products, environments and services, applying agile methods and people-oriented innovation techniques. They also identify aspects that make them suitable for use by elderly people or those in a situation of fragility and dependence, based on the point of view of their functionality, ergonomics, comfort, ease of use, etc.