ASICS Expands Global Research Network With ISS Europe and HUMAN FAB

ASICS is not just making new shoes, it is rebuilding how it studies sport. With a new European sport science hub, the ASICS Institute of Sport Science Europe, and a strategic partnership with HUMAN FAB, the brand is investing in deeper performance research that will shape its next generation of tennis product and, eventually, other categories too.

Building ISS Europe as a new R&D engine

ASICS has established the ASICS Institute of Sport Science Europe (ISS Europe) inside ASICS Europe B.V. The new unit connects directly to the long-standing Institute of Sport Science in Kobe, Japan, and to the recently formed ISS America, creating a three-continent R&D network.

This structure lets ASICS run more local testing and still feed everything into one global performance pipeline.

Europe plays a key role in that plan. It is one of ASICS’ most important growth markets and home to many of its contracted pro athletes.

By placing dedicated research staff in the region, the company can work with those players more often, gather richer data and respond faster with product updates that match real match-play demands.

HUMAN FAB (where science meets tennis)

To power ISS Europe from day one, ASICS has partnered with HUMAN FAB, a high-end sports research center in Aix-en-Provence, France. HUMAN FAB’s facilities include one of the world’s most advanced indoor tennis court labs: a full-size, competition-level court equipped for full-motion analysis.

Researchers can track ball speed, spin, footwork and body mechanics with extreme precision, all in a setting that mirrors real match conditions.

That environment gives ASICS a new lens on tennis performance. The data coming out of HUMAN FAB complements the work already happening in Kobe, adding European athlete insight and surface conditions to the mix.

The end goal is clear: turn those insights into smarter footwear and apparel tuned to the way elite players actually move.

Turning lab insights into future tennis products

Dr. Jean‑Bernard Fabre, HUMAN FAB’s founder and CEO, describes the partnership as a shared passion for physiology and biomechanics. His team supplies cutting-edge tech and expertise; ASICS brings its product engine and long history of performance design.

Together, they can test prototypes, analyze how players move and then iterate quickly.

That process is already underway. During the ASICS Global Tennis Summit, ISS Europe and HUMAN FAB presented early findings from their collaboration and showed an early prototype of a next‑generation tennis shoe.

While details remain under wraps, the message is that future ASICS tennis models will be built on real data from elite players, captured in a lab that looks and feels like a tour-level court.

A global, athlete-led innovation model

For ASICS President and COO Mitsuyuki Tominaga, the HUMAN FAB partnership is part of a bigger vision: connecting advanced technology with the founding philosophy of “Anima Sana in Corpore Sano” a sound mind in a sound body.

By adding a European testing base, ASICS can feed real-time athlete data straight into its development cycles, speeding up how fast lab ideas become on-court tools.

This move also fits ASICS’ Global Integrated Enterprise approach, which links regional expertise across markets. ISS Europe, ISS America and the original ISS in Japan now share athlete insight, test results and prototypes in a loop designed to support both performance innovation and long-term business growth.

In practice, that means future ASICS products will reflect not just one lab’s thinking, but a global view of how today’s athletes train, compete and recover.