VISIT. It's a blue door on the second floor of the Faculty of Science and Medicine building on the Aix-Marseille University campus. As soon as you enter, you can't miss the 2024 Olympic-themed sprint track on the right. (see below)On the left, we hear a humming sound coming from a strange room, the climatic and calorimetric chamber. (see below). Unique in Europe, it allows the simulation of varied climatic environments (temperature, humidity, altitude) to study the impact of climatic conditions on the activity of the volunteers who shut themselves in. Welcome to HIPE Human Lab.
HIPE? As in "Human Integrated Performance and Environment." We're here in a research laboratory focused on human physiology; it just opened its doors in Marseille. Inaugurated in mid-April, this laboratory draws on the skills of around a hundred researchers spread across fifteen different units covering a very wide range of disciplines: metabolism, thermoregulation, muscular activity and movement, behavior and cognition, hydration, nutrition, and more. In practice, these are movement specialists, physiologists, engineers, physical trainers, and doctors who, together, conduct numerous research projects at the intersection of climate, sport, and health. The objective of their work: to better understand the impact of extreme environmental conditions—heat, pollution, altitude, fatigue—on the body and its physical performance, to optimize the performance of athletes, and also to improve the situation of patients with chronic illnesses.
“ The HIPE configuration will allow us to transfer the results of our research from the field of sport to that of health and vice versa, the idea being to make our work accessible to as many people as possible.", summarizes Denis Bertin, its director. In other words, pto update human physiology, both to improve the performance and recovery of high-level athletes and to “repair” patients and learn to live on a planet unfortunately programmed to overheat.
HIPE works on five research axes: metabolism and nutrition, oncology, osteoarticular, neurology and environment. We work with various sports federations and manufacturers.", explains Denis Bertin. Between the sprint track and the climatic chamber, several hundred square meters, as many rooms reserved for the manipulations to which the many volunteers, athletes and patients, who come here to run, cycle, row, always lend themselves with a smile.
Science and Future was able to visit behind the scenes of this multidisciplinary research consortium. Supported by the France 2030 plan, it benefited from an investment of 8 million euros. A lighter version (without the chamber) with equipment on board a truck is already planned. To travel anywhere in France or Europe, predicts Arnaud Hays, Arnaud Hays, research engineer and high-level sports expert, to meet as many people as possible, in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, schools… ». Departure planned for summer 2026.
In the meantime, HIPE is continuing its experiments, from the most fundamental to the most practical, including improving injury monitoring in sports medicine, developing a prototype thermoregulating vest, and developing a connected chest protector for taekwondo. Not to mention, following the 2024 Paralympic Games, solutions aimed at improving the daily lives of wheelchair users. Here's an explanation.
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