Adam Ugolnik - Rollersuit

Rollersuit

Designed, built and patented this recreational sports apparel

2000

New York, New York — Ever since I was a small kid I'd dreamt of wearing a suit like this and sliding myself around a gymnasium floor or half-pipe. Once I obtained my industrial design degree and finally learned how to create one, I built my first prototype shown here. It's essentially just a body-suit covered in ball bearings that allows a person to run, dive and glide along a smooth surface. It's a fun suit to wear and always gets a lot of attention.

Inside is a half-inch layer of urethane foam under a quarter-inch of rigid polypropylene plastic which is affixed to the castors. The whole rig allows the wearer to slam hard against the floor without the fear of injury. It's like wearing thin hockey equipment with wheels on it. The neoprene suit hugs everything close to the body so there's no shaking while running and no mesh straps dangling to get stuck in the castors.

I patented this product in 2003 with the intent of implementing a roller helmet, shoulder pads and elbow pads as well as rubber-coated gloves and shoes for braking and steering. I have yet to get around to producing the accessories.

Shortly after posting this suit on rollersuit.com, I was contacted by Cirque du Soleil who was interested in including the suit in their shows. On August 7, 2005, CBS's "60-Minutes" aired the suit during a feature on Cirque du Soleil. Since then I have constructed a 2nd-Generation trimmed-down model of the suit which I have not photographed yet. This new model sheds some weight by replacing the hard shell and neoprene with additional foam and leather adjustable straps. It breathes much better than my prototype and looks much cooler.