Multiplay

Multiplay is an elastic exoskeleton sole for shoes, converting a regular shoe into an ideal shoe for sports with accessories to suit individual sports. 

The world is looking for sustainable solutions in everyday products. Manufacturing multiple shoes produce a lot of pollution. An estimated 20 billion shoes get produced each year and about 300 million of those shoes end up in a landfill. Leather shoes can take 24 to 40 years to decompose while rubber soles can take as long as 80 years! In addition to the materials, shoes are often produced using chemicals such as Ethylene Vinyl Acetate, which is used to make the sole of the shoe and takes 1000 years to decompose. Furthermore, just one shoe makes 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, when children are young they outgrow shoes quickly. They need a new pair each year, which applies to every sport and casual shoe they wear. My product creates an elastic exoskeleton sole for shoes that stretches on for a few shoe sizes and therefore can be used for multiple years. The main purpose is to reduce this substantial problem of global warming and pollution. 

Another big problem that I am looking to solve is that In India more than 60% of the population cannot afford sports shoes. This stops numerous children from lower income groups from pursuing sports due to the high cost despite their talent and love for the sport. I want to work towards the inclusivity of sports for all income groups.

Thirdly, there are a plethora of sports and each requires a different kind of shoe to play. These shoes have various modifications such as football shoes having studs, badminton shoes having gum soles, and basketball shoes having ankle support. Without these modifications the chances of injury increase by about 75% which discourages people from pursuing the sport.

My product named “Multiplay” is a removable sole that has an elastic feature allowing it to stretch out and wrap around the shoe completely forming an exoskeleton for the existing shoe. This is mainly used for sports as different sports require different kinds of shoes. Multiplay can transform an everyday shoe into an instant functional athletic shoe for the specific sport needed at the time. One just needs to buy a regular shoe and wear my sole under it and they will be able to play different sports. There are various features in my product such as attachable studs and cleats along with weight alterations which can modify a normal shoe into an ideal shoe for sports and reduce injury. Multiplay has the ability to deal with the problem of supination and pronation as there are various places for the attachments of studs and cleats to go into. For sports such as cricket and football which are played on natural as well as synthetic turf, a higher coefficient of friction of 0.8µ or greater is needed when forces are exerted in an anterior direction and 0.6µ when exerted in a lateral direction. My product helps to customize the traction of the shoe to have a coefficient of friction between 0.8µ to 1.2µ to achieve the best desirable traction and agility. It also extends the life of a shoe by protecting it from wear and tear by taking the brunt of the friction. This helps to reduce the need for multiple shoes as one shoe becomes an ideal shoe for all sports.  

My detachable sole for athletic shoes is created for middle and low-income groups, environmentally conscious people, and children who play multiple sports. My product gives children from middle and lower-income groups the opportunity to play multiple sports, many of whom are super talented and have a passion for sports but are unable to play because of the lack of resources and equipment. Some of them play sports in flip-flops or regular shoes which increases the chances of injury by 75%. Multiplay significantly reduces costs while allowing them to play sports with the correct equipment. Even people who can afford athletic shoes do not want to buy special shoes for specific sports that they play casually, as it is a waste of money, resources, and space. For example, cricket shoes require studs on the bottom making it hard to play the sport with regular shoes. Since I am making one sole that can be used on multiple shoes, my product will be more economical than buying a different pair of shoes for every sport. Furthermore, environmentally conscious people want to protect the planet by reducing wastage and pollution. By using Multiplay, there will be fewer shoes discarded due to reduced wear and tear, and people will be purchasing fewer shoes since one shoe can be used for multiple sports. This leads to a smaller carbon footprint. Multiplay serves all those purposes.

I am a one-member team and I am 16 years old, studying in junior high school in India. I am also a national-level badminton player but I love all sports and have been playing a variety of them like badminton, table tennis, basketball, football, cricket, and athletics since a very young age. I had to buy different shoes for playing so many different sports which I always felt was a waste of resources. Because of my love for sports, I started a not-for-profit organization called Khel Katha along with 5 friends to teach sports at government schools around 4 years ago. We work for 22 Government Schools in and around Mumbai. While working alongside these underprivileged children I realized that having one pair of shoes was a luxury for them and they could never afford different shoes for different sports in spite of having the caliber to play them. It is here that I clearly understood and conceptualized the need for such a product. I took up a course in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) so that I could start designing the sole. In order to understand the material specifications for the durability and elasticity of the sole I have consulted various material science experts and shoe entrepreneurs in India and experts like professors from colleges in India and the US. I have also pitched my solution to some shoe companies and participated in various competitions like the Blue Ocean High School Entrepreneur Pitch Competition, and worked to improve my design and solution by getting their feedback.

I am a passionate sportsman. My love for sports led me to found an NGO in 2019 with my friends called “Khel Katha” where we teach underprivileged children sports like football, Basketball, and Cricket. While teaching the children I realized that many of them were extremely talented and loved sports but couldn't reach their potential due to limited resources and not having the appropriate footwear. After speaking to a few of them I realized that sports shoes are too expensive for them and often stop them from playing sports or compel them to wear the wrong footwear which increases the chances of injury by 75%. This got me thinking and I decided to do something to change the situation. The children spoke about wanting to have a cheaper alternative to sports shoes while still having the same opportunities to be successful which is where the idea of Multiplay came to life. 

Furthermore, after conducting surveys with my friends and family members I realized that most people think that having multiple pairs of shoes is a waste of resources. I personally have bought pairs of sports shoes which I have rarely used as I have lost interest in that sport. This has a great burden on the environment and I plan to attract this environmentally conscious market of people for my product. 

My solution is the first to transform a regular everyday sports shoe into an ideal shoe for multiple sports by just adding an accessory that wraps around the shoe. Multiplay can be used with various types of shoes, ranging from casual footwear to traditional running shoes. This attachment will transform the shoe into an ideal shoe for specific sports by providing all the necessary features. It can further stretch on for a few shoe sizes. Multiplay also has customizable weight and traction depending on the sport being played. Along with all this, it also has the ability to treat supination and pronation by the arrangement of the studs. I am sure this will revolutionize the shoe industry and push the big brands to reduce the number of shoes produced each year which will be one way to help with sustainability. Multiplay will also be a sports enabler, bringing out hidden talent from lower and middle-income families. It will be a health enabler in making a healthier and fitter world by reducing injuries and making sports more accessible.  

For the next year, the focus is on perfecting the prototype through design and materials research and experimentation by trial and error methodology. Once we have a workable prototype in place the 3 major problem statements and impact goals are as follows 

1. Substantiality - Currently more than a trillion shoes are discarded each year and a majority of these end up in landfills and pollute drinking water and the environment. I plan on reducing the number of shoes discarded significantly and therefore reduce the carbon footprint and work towards sustainability. 
2. Affordability - More than 60% of India's population cannot afford proper sports shoes for specific sports, which is a barrier for them to play the specific sports despite having talent and love for the game. I want to change this lack of opportunity and make sports more affordable for everyone by reducing equipment costs. 
3. Accessibility - Improper footwear results in injuries and this can sometimes be serious enough to end the ability to pursue a particular sport. Multiplay is an endeavor that significantly reduces sports injuries by 75%.

The main technology for my product is the design and materials for the removable elastic sole which transforms an everyday shoe into an ideal shoe for sports. The elasticity feature allows Multiplay to stretch on for a few shoe sizes and to be used on different pairs of shoes. Further the sole will have studs and cleats which can be removed and replaced depending on the sport being played and can also eliminate the problem of supination and pronation by adjusting the position in which it is placed. The material used will also have to deal with the weight and resistance to movement which will differ from sport to sport. As an example, badminton and basketball which are fast-paced and require high jumps will need lighter soles. In contrast, sports such as tennis will require relatively heavier soles. The prototype will be made through 3D printing the sole and then eventually moving on to making a mould for a larger production scale.

I have not launched my product and it is in the design stage currently. After successful prototyping when we have an acceptable product, I want first to help the students under my NGO called Khel Katha. There are 22 schools under it and over 5000 students. My first goal is to help them by enabling them to play all sports they enjoy.  After that, I plan to reach out to other NGOs and expand to reach underprivileged children all over India. Then I wish to have my product sold at well-recognized sports stores. I am aiming to reach a number of at least 10000 soles in 2 years. Once we have overcome the first two years of proving Multiplay’s ability, we will have only the sky to reach while continuing to innovate on the product features. 

The main resources needed for my product, “Multiplay” are the proper materials and finance. A major barrier to my project is the stronghold of the big companies in the shoe industry which may not be happy with such a product and may make it very challenging for newcomers to enter the market. These companies are big and they have applied for a patent on almost every type of shoe produced. Furthermore, getting people to accept the idea of having a sole wrapping around a shoe will be hard and I will need a lot of convincing ability and a strong proof of concept. Hence reaching out to underprivileged kids through free samples is the initial plan. This will not only help the children but will also assist me in proving and perfecting the product. I want to break through the ideology of buying new shoes for each sport and rather change habits to buying limited pairs of shoes and using attachments such as my product to customize their shoes and therefore contributing towards sustainability. The costs for the mould and materials might be another barrier that my project will face. Working with the coefficient of friction and getting each sole with the studs and cleats perfect for each sport are finer design challenges to work on along with finding the correct material which satisfies all my requirements. 

The main target customers for Multiplay will be environmentally conscious people, lower and middle-income families, and sportspersons who play multiple sports. My product will benefit low-income families since the sole is economically viable as they will not have to spend a lot of money buying expensive sports shoes and can rather play different sports with a regular shoe. This will help underprivileged children in particular. Furthermore, due to the reduced need for multiple shoes the carbon footprint will drastically reduce as well. I will be reaching out to underprivileged children to provide free samples. The sale of these soles will be through partnerships with companies' sustainability solution providers and through sports stores. 

Since my company is a startup, initially I plan on getting funding through family,  friends, and grants. Subsequently, I am confident of getting sponsorships and funding from sustainability-based funds through investment capital. Another avenue for funds is through government startup funds schemes. Once we have the model ready and have survived 2 years of product development, and innovation, and achieved a 10000 soles barrier we should be able to sustain our own expenses. This startup money will be used to start the manufacturing process and will be put toward the growth of the company. After a few years, once my company grows in size and has enough customers, I plan on sustaining solely through the profits made by selling my product which will be fully reinvested into the company.