↗01 / OBJECTOUR FIRST HEADGUARD
IMPACT MECHANICA / RUGBY
REIMAGININGPROTECTIVEHEADGEAR.
Impact Mechanica is a Cambridge-based deep-tech company developing computationally engineered protective headgear, beginning with rugby.
We combine advanced materials and computational design with an ambition to connect AI-enabled engineering, anatomical intelligence and digital manufacturing. Rugby gives us a focused starting point: the demands of contact sport and the experience of the player.
THE NEED / THE PLAYER↓02WHY WE STARTEDINJURY / EXPERIENCE / PARTICIPATION
WHY WE
STARTED.
Rugby’s international reach, head-injury challenge and wearing barriers create a reason to develop better headgear. Its clear player and equipment requirements give our digital-to-physical approach a focused first application.
THREE FINDINGS / THREE DIFFERENT POPULATIONSRounded from 8.46 million across 132 member unions, reported by World Rugby.
WORLD RUGBY / 2023Men’s English Premiership surveillance.
2018–19 season · 21% reported by RFU.
124 of 185 in this subgroup. UK online survey, March–June 2016.
BARNES ET AL. / 2017↗
02 / MORPHOLOGYEXPRESSIVE
EXPRESSIVE
STRUCTURES.
03 / ENGINEERINGMATERIALS.
MATERIALS.
TESTING. VALIDATION.
D03.DIRECTIONALRIDGE.
EXPLORE D03 ↗
Our first headguard design brings together soft construction, sculpted geometry and a distinctive visual language. Developed around the demands of rugby, D03 is the starting point for our approach to protective headgear.
DIGITAL GEOMETRY / MANUFACTURING RESEARCHD03 is in development, not available to buy. Physical protective performance, fit, manufacturing and match-use eligibility remain to be established. Product development and safety information ↗
SPM / DESIGN STUDY03 / THE OPPORTUNITY
ONE
CONTINUOUS
APPROACH.TWO DISTINCT FUNCTIONS.
Architected soft materials use geometry as well as material behaviour to shape a structure’s response. Our design direction brings a protective foundation and expressive Soft Programmable Morphology (SPM) into one continuous soft headguard.
01
Materials and architecture.
The foundation is intended to manage impact through material behaviour and geometry. Our digital manufacturing research explores how this architecture could be made.
02
Design freedom for players.
SPM explores surface and silhouette as a route to individual expression. Computational design gives us a way to define those choices before manufacture and evaluate them as part of the complete headguard.
FROM
INTELLIGENCE
TO MATTER.
Our ambition extends beyond a single product: a connected workflow bringing AI, anatomy, generative design, architected materials and digital manufacturing together.
D03 is where we begin. Reusable engineering capabilities could eventually support flexible manufacturing, individually informed fit and protective products beyond rugby.
EXPLORE THE ENGINEERING VISION↗- 01 / APP IN DEVELOPMENT
ANATOMICAL INTELLIGENCE
TrueContourAI is our separately developed head-scanning app. We aim to turn captured anatomy into future inputs for product geometry and fit.
- 02 / FUTURE AMBITION
AI-NATIVE GENERATIVE ENGINEERING
We aim to develop AI-assisted tools that explore designs against anatomical, mechanical and manufacturing constraints.
- 03 / DESIGN FOUNDATION
ARCHITECTED SOFT MATERIALS
We explore soft geometry and cellular structures. Materials development and physical tests will establish their behaviour.
- 04 / MANUFACTURING RESEARCH
DIGITAL MANUFACTURING
We’re investigating how digital designs could become repeatable physical products, with flexibility in how and where they are made.
- 05 / PLANNED PHYSICAL WORK
PHYSICAL VALIDATION
Material and whole-headguard tests are the next step towards connecting geometry with measured performance.
- 06 / FUTURE AMBITION
CLOSED-LOOP OPTIMISATION
Our long-term vision connects design, simulation, manufacturing feedback and test evidence to improve each iteration.
BUILDING TOWARDS
PHYSICAL AI.
Our ambition is to bring artificial intelligence into the engineering of physical products, connecting generative design, advanced simulation, digital manufacturing and experimental feedback.
Beginning with protective headgear, we’re developing the computational foundations for increasingly intelligent design-to-manufacturing workflows. Longer term, these could support mass personalisation and on-demand manufacturing.
05FROM DESIGN TO EVIDENCEDIGITAL PROGRESS / DEVELOPMENT / VALIDATION
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTFROM
FROM
DESIGN
TO
EVIDENCE.
We are advancing D03 from digital design towards physical evaluation. Our next stages connect materials and manufacturing research with tests of the complete headguard.
OUR RESEARCH AND THE CURRENT RULES↗01 / DOCUMENTED DIGITAL PROGRESS
We have generated and checked the digital headguard geometry for a specific configuration.
02 / ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT
Materials research, cellular geometry and repeatable specimen development.
03 / PLANNED PHYSICAL VALIDATION
READ THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY↗Next: physical prototypes, fit evaluation and whole-headguard testing.
IM / ORIGINS
Led by Dr Cherise Dunn and Dr Riyad Domingo, combining biomedical science, technology entrepreneurship and international venture experience. MEET THE FOUNDERS ↗
Incubated at Harvard Innovation Labs and received funding from Harvard University.
IMPACT MECHANICA / THE NEXT CHAPTERDON’T JUST WATCH
DON’T JUST WATCH
WHAT’S NEXT.BE PART OF IT.
D03 is our first protective-headgear direction. TrueContourAI explores digital head capture. Two products in development, connected by a future vision for digital-to-physical engineering.
EXPLORE THE NEXT CHAPTER
FROM ANATOMY
TO DESIGN.
Explore TrueContourAI, our head-scanning application in development. Our ambition is anatomical intelligence: turning captured head shape into useful design inputs for future individually informed products.
EXPLORE TRUECONTOURAI Scan accuracy and integration remain under development.
HELP SHAPE
WHAT’S NEXT.
Discover our first headguard design in development, shaped around the demands of rugby and the experience of the player.
EXPLORE D03 DEVELOPMENT D03 is in development. Development and safety informationTWO TECHNOLOGIES IN DEVELOPMENT. Partnership enquiries are welcome.
RUGBY’S
NEXT CHAPTER.
World Rugby’s 2023 census reported 1.9 million active registered players.
- 2028LOS ANGELESOlympic rugby sevens ↗
- 2031UNITED STATESMen’s Rugby World Cup ↗
- 2033UNITED STATESWomen’s Rugby World Cup ↗
- 2035MEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP / HOST NOT YET SELECTED
Bids as of November 2026: Spain, Japan, and a joint bid from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil.
World Rugby has announced £200 million in planned investment to develop rugby in the United States ahead of 2031.
HELP SHAPE
WHAT COMES
NEXT.
Bring strategic insight, manufacturing expertise, research capabilities or commercial experience. Help develop a distinctive rugby headguard and shape the company’s next stage.
PARTNER WITH US ↗