88 AIRLESS BASKETBALL

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COMPANY INVENTS AIRLESS BASKETBALL

Sports equipment giant Wilson recently introduced a 3D-printed basketball prototype that does not need to be inflated and features a see-through lattice design.

Basketball technology has come a long way since the early days of the sport when real stitched leather was used as the main material, but Wilson is trying to change the game completely with a new concept that completely does away with pneumatic pressure. Instead, the Wilson Airless Prototype relies on the elasticity of its “research-grade” polymer material to produce the same bounce as traditional basketballs. It eliminates the need to inflate the ball to a certain pressure as well as problems like punctures and air escaping through the inflation valve.

One of the most interesting features of the airless basketball is the lattice design. Although Wilson has kept the pattern of the traditional basketball, ensuring that players can still get their fingers into the seam lines for better grip, the prototype has a very futuristic look. Because air pressure is no longer a requirement, the ball itself is see-through, with hundreds of small hexagonal holes, allowing air to pass through.

Working with manufacturing company EOS, Wilson 3D-printed its airless prototype. The main concern was replicating the bounce of a traditional basketball, which was not easy, since there is no internal air pressure to generate rebound.

The Wilson Airless Prototype was unveiled last month during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The heavily-edited video makes it look like a perfectly good alternative to the regular basketball, but the company admits that it is still a prototype that requires more testing.

There are indeed a few unanswered questions about this unusual invention. For example, we do not really know what its “hand feel” is like, because of the new design, or how air passing through it affects its trajectory or how it reacts to wind and spin.

Unfortunately, those hexagonal holes probably will not allow you to spin the basketball on your fingertips. And speaking of those holes, what if something, like a pebble, gets inside the ball? Will it affect play? We will just have to wait until Wilson finally offers the airless basketball to customers, if it ever decides to do so.