The World's First 'Invisible' Cycle Helmet Goes on Sale

[Retro_Link]

http://www.ecouterre.com/worlds-first-invisible-bike-helmet-goes-on-sale-video/

 

It’s been seven years in the making, but the world’s first “invisible” bike helmet is now available for purchase. The brainchild of Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, two industrial designers from Sweden, the Hövding—Swedish for “chieftain”—is essentially a collar that deploys an airbag-like hood in case of an impact. Unlike regular hard-hat helmets, which the duo deride as “bulky, like a hard mushroom on your head,” the Hövding is designed to be unobtrusive. But the device is more than an expression of vanity. “An invisible bicycle helmet is a symbol of the ‘impossible,’” Haupt and Alstin say in the video. “If people say it’s impossible, we have to prove them wrong.”

Tucked within a removable shell in your choice of color and print, the collar springs into action when built-in gyroscopes and accelerometers detect motions typically associated with bike accidents. When the sensors are triggered, the nylon bag fills up with helium, taking only a tenth of a second to fully inflate, according to the duo.

The Hövding also includes a “black box” that saves 10-seconds-worth of data about the cyclist’s movements before and during a crash. (Haupt and Alstin ask that you send them the box after accidents, so they can continue to hone and improve the helmet.) Just one catch: current models retail at SEK 3998, or $600 in U.S. dollars. For safety reasons, the airbag is good for only one use, but returning a deployed or expired Hövding for recycling earns you a discount for a new one.

 

 

 

I don't get it......... At all!

 

I think it's frankly ridiculous and they shouldn't have been allowed to spend $10million on development.

 

Firstly it's creating a solution for a problem that doesn't even exist.

I see no difference in wearing a helmet to wearing a brace around your neck!

 

And secondly I'd much rather rely on the guarantee of having something being permanently on my head than an electronically controlled airbag that could either fail alltogether or malfunction and go off/not go off in the wrong circumstance.

 

Plus so many dillusional quotes in that video! :p

Edited August 19, 2012 by Retro_Link

[Magnus]

I see no difference in wearing a helmet to wearing a brace around your neck!

No helmet hair?

[Retro_Link]

No helmet hair?

Ah of course! :p

Also I bet in cold/rain everyone would wear a hat with this neck helmet anyway!

[Daft]

Revolutionary? I don't think that word means what they think it means.

[Diageo]

Well, firstly bike helmets look ridiculous, whereas this looks like a scarf. And a hat wouldn't hamper this, just like a mohawk wouldn't. There's a massive difference between wearing this and a bike helmet. Easier storage when you get off your bike for one.

 

It's a nice enough idea if it wasn't so expensive and one use only.

 

Also, it protects more than just the top of your head and looks like it can protect your neck better.

[Hamishmash]

I thought this was going to be about Bret's helmet that looks like his hair.

 

[Dog-amoto]

^^^Haha. I was just going to post that same thing!

[Retro_Link]

Well, firstly bike helmets look ridiculous, whereas this looks like a scarf. And a hat wouldn't hamper this, just like a mohawk wouldn't. There's a massive difference between wearing this and a bike helmet. Easier storage when you get off your bike for one.

 

It's a nice enough idea if it wasn't so expensive and one use only.

 

Also, it protects more than just the top of your head and looks like it can protect your neck better.

It's pretty bulky and padded, so I don't see much difference to putting your helmet somewhere, and having to put this somewhere.

 

I didn't mean a hat would hamper it, more that it's quite likely you'll be wearing something on your head anyway, so it might as well be a helmet!

Also a helmet will also stop the front/back of your head hitting the ground due to it being bigger than your head.

 

Also I personally think that the mindframe/notion of a helmet being uncool, or looking rediculous is a stupid/oldfashioned one.

[Cube]

That looks very visible to me...

[Retro_Link]

Hence the 'Invisible'

[Dog-amoto]

When it inevitably becomes a legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling, won't some police time be wasted? They'll be stopping someone wearing this (say, hidden by their coat) and much confusion will ensue.

 

[EddieColeslaw]

I watched this a few days ago - thought it was cool, but 7 years development seems a bit too long and wasteful. (It was 7, right? Can't be bothered to rewatch :p)

[Goafer]

I think it's a brilliant idea. It's got more coverage than the average helmet and its thicker as well, potentially meaning more crash protection.

 

Sure, it's a little bit bulky at the moment, but it's the first generation. I'm sure it can be compacted down with time, maybe even be adapted into a headband or something. Maybe even adapt it into a shirt or something that can protect other areas such as elbows and knees as well.

 

Same with the price. All new technology is pricey. It will come down with time.

 

The video was a bit crap though. I think someone thinks a bit too highly of themselves. It's just cycling, not some revolutionary new thing that prevents AIDS whilst also fends off rapists by setting them on fire.

[Ramar]

If you worried about what you look like whilst wearing safety equipment such as a helmet, you're doing it wrong.

[Sheikah]

This is good, bike helmets look and feel fugly.

 

Also there is some research that suggests people wearing helmets are actually at more risk on account of car/lorry drivers perceiving helmet wearers as more experienced/safer cyclists and therefore driving closer to them. I'd be happier wearing something that wasn't as noticeable as a helmet.

[Cube]

On the other hand, there was that biker who died from a head injury while in an anti-helmet protest. A helmet would have saved his life.

[Sheikah]

Yeah but what's more likely? Die from such a contrived set of circumstances, or from an increased risk due to driver perception.

 

Plus the safety helmets grant is contested. Really you'd need something like a motor racing helmet for proper protection.

[Goafer]

On the other hand, there was that biker who died from a head injury while in an anti-helmet protest. A helmet would have saved his life.

 

Wasn't that a motorcyclist, not a cyclist?

 

 

 

I'm really not getting the "current helmets are fine" argument. The oven was fine, didn't stop us inventing the microwave. It's all about developing new ideas and creating new/better ways of doing things. I think with a little bit of refinement, this could work.

 

What does concern me is that airbags are normally deployed by explosives...

 

[Cube]

Also, can you imagine slumping onto a sofa without taking it off?

[Retro_Link]

Well yeah, I'm wondering quite how hard the force has to be?

 

I'm sure they've done all sorts of test to find the right set of circumstance under which it's deployed, but what if an unfunny friend just booted your back tyre really hard, or someone smacked you on the back without warning?

 

Maybe it wouldn't deploy under such instances, but then there are all types of cycle accidents and reasons why you could fall off your bike and hit your head; it doesn't have to be a hard collision; which is why I'm not at all convinced by this thing yet.

[Cube]

I thought it was triggered by the falling motion, not the collision. If you just went over the handlebars then there would be no collision until your head hit the pavement.

[Retro_Link]

I thought it was triggered by the falling motion, not the collision. If you just went over the handlebars then there would be no collision until your head hit the pavement.

I thought it was triggered by an impact (and I guess the resultant head jerk); therefore the trigger for going over the handlebars would be when the front tyre was hit?

 

If it is the falling motion it would be bloody annoying if you just 'casually' slipped/fell of your bike and the thing went off loosing you $600!

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'm with @Goafer on this one. It's clearly an early idea, and it will take a lot of refinement before we ever see it in everyday use, if it ever gets that far.

 

Helmets are right up there with headsets for me in terms of obtrusive pieces of equipment that I'd rather not use. Hate them both. They're clearly an obstruction and you are always aware that you are wearing one. It's the same for me when I am wearing glasses. Don't like it.

 

I don't think it's a pointless invention at all. It's very raw and nowhere near finished, but it definitely has a point. Video was terrible, and only really worthwhile for the last 10 seconds or so.

[Retro_Link]

OK maybe I was a little harsh on it yesterday; of course I'm all up for Helmet development, it's so important! So however you can get people wearing head protection the better. But I'm just not convinced by this.

It's very raw and nowhere near finished,

Has just gone on sale though, so I hope it's finished! :p

[Iun]

What...exactly were you guys expecting from a website that has a section labelled "Vegan Fashion"?