Breaking the mould: Making high performance wearables more accessible

The pandemic has shone a light on inequality and CEO of PolyMetrix and Techcelerate graduate, Samuel Willis, is hoping to address one aspect of this by producing customisable face masks that fit and perform better. 

Samuel finished his Master's degree in Design Engineering at Imperial in the Summer of 2020, before starting a research post under Dr Connor Myant. Samuel developed, alongside the research team, this new technology, which is now embodied by the venture, PolyMetrix. 

Based on existing research from co-founder Shiya Li at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, PolyMetrix’s system uses data analytics from 3D scans to carry out an autonomous fitting process that produces either a model of a fully customised wearable product or an analytical model to help inform clients as to the wearables they should be using.

“The fit of a wearable device directly impacts its performance,” explains Samuel. “And sadly most wearable devices are designed to a single generic model, resulting in demographic design biases in terms of gender, age and race. Put simply, depending on where a product is designed, it will typically perform better for the native demography which means many people are wearing products with compromised performance.”

This problem came to the fore during the pandemic, when it was reported 97% of healthcare staff in the Hubei region in China were experiencing some form of skin damage due to enhanced infection prevention measures. While across four UK hospitals one fifth of healthcare workers failed fit-testing for FFP3 masks and this was significantly more likely in staff from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

As such the company has focussed its efforts on its flagship product - the PolyMetrix Mask - which is autonomously generated and customised to every individual’s face, regardless of gender, age or ethnic background. The research attracted interest from media with both the BBC and CNN reporting on its Mensura Mask initiative where people upload scans of their face to a website and receive a file which will allows them to print a 3D mask designed to fit their face.

Samuel joined Techcelerate in January 2021 which was the first virtual version of the programme “Techcelerate provided a great learning opportunity,” he says. “And gave me access to a group of talented like-minded individuals to bounce business ideas off. The sessions with industry experts were incredibly useful as we got to grips with pivoting and also grew in confidence ourselves.”

After Techcelerate the company has become part of the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service (IVMS) programme, from which they have gained mentors who offer help and advice in business management and networks. Samuel describes this support as “massively helpful” allowing him to get clear direction when faced with multiple options and choices in the company’s development.  

“The most challenging part of the process has been adapting from a graduate student to running a team of seven incredibly talented individuals,” says Samuel. “The Techcelerate programme provided two things to help overcome this challenge: firstly the teaching materials on business and management strategy, but more importantly was the validation we received whilst on the programme that our project was worthwhile. It is easy to lose focus and motivation but simply getting onto the programme gave me the encouragement to keep pushing our venture.”

The issue PolyMetrix is looking to solve is not limited to face masks and has been prevalent through multiple market segments for some time. In fact the original research that led to the company’s formation was initially investigating how to improve the fit of sleep apnoea masks and the tech has other applications in prosthetics, orthotics and performance footwear.

According to Samuel, the Techcelerate programme and IVMS programme have allowed the company to identify those products for which the markets are most ready and given them confidence to follow these routes. During this time Samuel has also developed valuable perspective on the entrepreneurial journey itself. “I think it’s vital to balance optimism, excitement and enthusiasm with a healthy dose of reality,” he says. “It’s a skill that is hard to learn because we are all so passionate about our respective ventures and it’s different for each person but finding this balance has really helped me to maintain momentum.”

The PolyMetrix team are now pushing to get their minimal viable product for the mask with plans to enable this through seed or grant funding, whilst actively seeking business partners, advisors and new team members. In the future they are hoping to work with other teams across the Imperial Enterprise ecosystem and to access further support for prototyping.