One of the biggest downfalls about riding a bike is wearing a huge bike helmet. Not only are these helmets incredibly uncomfortable, but they also look funny as well. In any case, riders continue to wear them as they have been proven to prevent injuries and safe lives in the case of a bicycle accident. As a result, two Swedish women, who became annoyed with wearing bike helmets, decided to create an invisible bike helmet which provides full head protection without wearing anything on your head.
The invisible helmet is essentially an airbag, similar to that in your car, which is designed like a hood. The material is made of strong nylon fabric that will not rip or become penetrated by scraping on the ground during a fall. Best of all, the helmet protects almost the entire head, while leaving your field of vision open.
When the airbag senses a fall, it will inflate, using a gas inflator, and cover a much wider area than a traditional bicycle helmet. The airbag also provides a much softer and gentle absorption of shock, whereas traditional bike helmets are often rough.
To install the Hovding, it is placed around a rider’s neck, then pulling the zipper up to the riders chin. Once the rider is wearing the invisible helmet, they can turn it on using the simple on and off switch. The device is battery powered and is able to last 18 hours while being charged by a simple USB cable.
Since 2005 the invisible bike helmet has been going through testing including thousands of re-enacted bicycle collisions using crash dummies and stunt drivers. Further research was gathered by normal cycling data collected from test cyclists. Researchers then pulled this data and developed an algorithm which can distinguish every day cycling patterns including riding up hills, down steps, and picking up keys, to movements of an accident.
Unfortunately, for avid bicyclists across the United States, this invisible helmet has not yet been approved for use in the states. As research continues, we may find this excellent product available, and will cost approximately $445.00 per helmet. While the price tag is rather large, it is a great alternative for those cyclists who do not like wearing a helmet.
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