Invisible Bike Helmet Inflates Before Impact

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  Vinod

  6 years ago

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  What really triggers the inflation ?

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  -PEves-

  8 years ago

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  I am wondering how this would work in a real situation. You know the ones where there is glass and other debris that would pop that helmet like a balloon.

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  HecMan

  8 years ago

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  A traditional helmet spared me from more extensive injuries during a collision with a Honda Civic. I now cringe when I see cyclists not wearing proper protection.
  If this gets more cyclists properly attired, I see it as a beneficial product..

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  Lior

  10 years ago

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  The speed bike in the video is 16 km\h, what is max. speed where the air bag is efficient,
  so it won’t open up after the person will hit the ground?
  

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  Kate

  10 years ago

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  When will riders start to care about the head injury resulting from an accident more than they care about how "cool" or "stylish" they look riding around on their bike? Maybe after one of their friends has an accident and has to learn to walk and talk again, or unfortunately after one of them is killed by a motorist. Oh, and I hope their hair still looks good from not wearing a helmet when their head is cracked open like a melon and their brain is smeared all over the road. Sorry, I think this product is a stupid concession to stupid riders...they won't wear this either! The more you bike in the city, the more traffic there is: the more you need to wear a proper helmet. If you value yourself, that is.

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  Lance

  10 years ago

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  You all realize that this is designed for people who don't wear helmets, right? So comparing this to something that these people are not wearing anyway is pointless. This is brilliant and a huge improvement over really thick curly hair.

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  James

  10 years ago

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  Why NOT put it on backwards? Why not have full face protection, or at least more facial coverage than this design currently offers? Is there a reason that'd be a bad thing?

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  Tex

  10 years ago

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  Another expensive product for the stupid and vain? We Americans have had one for years! Check this advanced, cutting edge technology out: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/airbag-helmet.html

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  GR

  10 years ago

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  Someone will put this thing on backwards, mark my words.

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  SJ

  10 years ago

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  A currently approved bicycle helmet has no protection against a face-plant. This one has more protection in the forehead and provides some neck support against cervical injury as well.
  
  Nothing will protect you completely unless you seal yourself in a vault with padding. Where's the fun in that?
  
  NT: I don't believe this is intended for motorcycles.

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  Pernilla

  10 years ago

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  Dale, Yogi:
  People who bike in the forest should use a helmet for that purpose, just as you wouldn't ride there with a city bike.
  
  People like me, who bike only in the city, care about their appearance and think ordinary "sporty" bike helmets makes you look like wearing an multicolored walnut on your head, (and therefor don't wear them) will use this. I love it.
  It's a perfect example of "user-centered design", the opposite attitude of "oh, just use the old one for Christs sake." Making items that fit people, rather than insisting on people to adapt to the old, bad working items.

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  VitalStatistic63

  10 years ago

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  It looks like the face is not really protected too well. Since this helmet is not deployed full time surely it could be modified to completely surround the head and face, possibly by coming up from the front of the collar as well. You could leave a little gap for breathing in case you are unconscious and no one is around to help remove it after impact, and maybe even eye holes in case it falsely deploys while you are riding.
  
  And horses for courses, if you are riding where there is a likelyhood of low branches, wear a proper helmet.
  

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  Yogi

  10 years ago

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  Don't understand the pictures of a model with the collar on! That tells me that aesthetics have taken priority over function ... why don't they show someone in cycling gear wearing this? Also the 3 scenarios in the video and too little, speeds are too slow and the 3rd one in fact shows damage to the rider's face!
  
  Lastly, personally, I feel helmets look cool and not "unstylish" Cheers!

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  David

  10 years ago

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  Simply because the bag inflates, does not indicate its safety. You could "engineer" a piece of paper to roll out instantly, doesnt mean that piece of paper will protect you. The two are not mutually exclusive.

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  Naomi

  10 years ago

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  To NT: 180? Dude, wear a proper helmet... Protection over style/comfort for those kinds of speeds, and I speak as a helmet hater.
  
  To Peter: I think you're making an assumption regarding the trigger method - it looked to me more like the trigger might be more associated with the change in rotation of the sensor perhaps? Though that could also possibly be riddled with problems too! I'm imagining someone leaning down to tuck their shoelace in...

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  rbrc

  10 years ago

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  @peter @adam, watch the whole video.

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  Dale

  10 years ago

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  Marek's question isn't necessarily about a cyclist being stupid. I have been hit in the head by branches that I couldn't see while riding trails.
  
  The difference I see here is that in a car, the initial impact in an accident is always to the outside of the vehicle. You can't guarantee that on a bicycle. Even so this device appears to provide protection against the majority of cycling accidents.

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  Sander Lazar

  10 years ago

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  Peter makes an excellent point. More crash testing is needed. Ultimately, perhaps the best solution to the problem of helmets not looking good and messing up peoples' hair is to get more people on bikes- safety increases dramatically the more bike riders there are on the roads.

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  Adam

  10 years ago

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  Works great if you get hit by behind at crazy low-speed, but most bike accidents end up with the bicyclist going forward and landing on their forehead. Most people wear their helmets incorrectly (IE, pulled way too far back), resulting in them hitting their heads anyway. This doesn't help that at all, since it looks as though the helmet would just push out of the way if you landed on the front of your head.
  
  Also, what happens if I hit a pothole or jump a curb? Does that just set off the sensors?
  
  I just don't see this working in real life. Just wear helmets people!

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  TerraHertz

  10 years ago

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  I certainly hope these become widely used. Because they have such awesome comedic potential. I can't think of any social situation that couldn't be instantly converted to bizarre with one of these, accidentally or rigged to go off with (im)perfect timing.
  
  Let me be the first to see one going off while worn backwards, please, please!
  
  Now all we need is a visual sound effect to go with it. I suppose it would be something like PAFFF.... But the designers would probably sell more if they designed in a funny noisemaker.
  

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  Peter

  10 years ago

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  Having been involved (either as a cyclist or observer) in several bike accidents, I suspect this kind of thing would very rarely work. A bike is not a car. In a car, airbags work well because for the passenger to experience impact, the car must experience rapid acceleration first. For a bike, the passenger is not tied to the bike. The type of accident shown -- where the bike is more-or-less stationary -- and the rider is jerked by a sudden impact to the bike -- almost never happens. What almost always happens is the bike is jerked in some direction, but the cyclist keeps moving along her original trajectory. For instance, the front wheel hits an opening car door. The bike stops. The rider flies over the handlebars, at more-or-less the same speed and trajectory as when riding. The sudden acceleration happens when the cyclist's head hits the ground or traffic. In this situation (which is almost all bicycle accidents), the airbag wouldn't deploy until too late.
  
  Try repeating the crash test, with the bike rolling, and the front wheel hitting an obstacle, and let us know what happens.

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  NT

  10 years ago

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  Unfortunately there's very little face protection in evidence. If you look at the last one, the dummies forehead bounces off the cushion presenting chin and nose to the ground surface. A standard foam cycling helmet is rigid enough and deep enough at the front to prevent most facial injuries. My first crash involved going almost 180 with the full weight of my bike coming down on me. Thanks to my helmet, I didn't even realise that my head had connected with the ground until I noticed that the visor was over my eyes. My arm was murder though -- road rash in three places.

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  Gavin

  10 years ago

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  Marek there's no way to make a helmet that prevents against stupidity.

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  Jake Stichler

  10 years ago

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  @marek: You should have been paying more attention to where you're going, then...

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  bobby

  10 years ago

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  I'd buy this

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  Exertion Music

  10 years ago

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  I'm glad they were able to R & D it into a real product, not just an empty dream like so many other over-sensationalized internet "technology" stories.

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  marek

  10 years ago

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  What if you're riding along and hit your head on a low hanging tree branch.
  
  A real hemlet would only work in this situation

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  Maria

  10 years ago

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  For this sort of things I decided to study industrial design It makes me feel so proud of human capacity

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  Brian Piper

  10 years ago

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  Awesome! Very similar to Dainese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo9Vlt5tGwY

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  Jayson

  10 years ago

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  How much does this cost? If you take a minor fall and it goes off, do you have to buy a new helmet? Is it reusable?
  
  I'm not sure if I would trust this product just yet.

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