Take a preliminary glimpse at the photos of the new invisible bike helmet and you just might believe this new invention is a hoax, a too-cool piece of technological fiction meant to taunt the simultaneously safety- and fashion-conscious. Bike enthusiasts, cycling commuters, and helmet haters everywhere rejoice – it’s real.
Hövding (the official name of the invisible helmet) began as an industrial design master thesis at Lund University. Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin spent seven years doing research and development; they raised nearly $10 million of venture capital to turn their research project pipe dream into a reality. The project was inspired by Sweden’s new compulsory helmet law for children under 15 and the resistance to expanding the law to include adults as well. Anna and Terese, in conversation with cyclists who chose not to wear a helmet despite the safety risks, found that, unsurprisingly, most of them didn’t like the way traditional helmets look or feel and complained about the bulk or about damage to their hairstyles.
Hövding looks like a large fabric collar, similar to a bulky scarf, which zips around the wearer’s neck. Inside the waterproof collar is a hood-shaped airbag made of rip-resistant nylon. In the event of an accident, sensors inside the collar trigger a small helium gas inflator that then inflates the airbag in one-tenth of a second. During the seven years of 
research and development, Anna and Terese worked with a head trauma specialist to build a database of the many different kinds of bicycling accidents that can happen and then staged these accidents to accurately record the cyclist’s motion during each crash. This database of movement helps the Hövding sensors discern the difference between a crash and normal bicycling movement.
Unlike a traditional helmet, Hövding must be turned on and off by fastening the zipper pull-tab after zipping up the collar. A small battery powers Hövding’s sensors and gas inflator, and it can be recharged via a USB cable. The collar also includes a small back box, which records 10 seconds of data during the crash and Hövding inflation. After one accident or collision, the Hövding is finished, but if you send the black box back to the company, it’ll use the information to improve Hövding and give you a discount on a replacement.
Hövding meets the requirements of the European Union’s Personal Protective Equipment Directive, which means that not only is it as safe as many other helmets on the market, but it also works in all weather and causes no unnecessary risks, such as sharp edges, for the wearer. In addition to meeting these EU standards, Hövding withstood safety testing from an independent Swedish insurance company. The insurance company found that the inflatable helmet provided more protection than a standard bicycle helmet; when tested for an impact at 15 MPH, the Hövding measured just 65 Gs of force, as compared to 200 Gs registered by a traditional helmet.
In 2006, Hövding won the Venture Cup, which included a monetary prize of just over $30,000 and allowed the two-woman initiative to develop into a 16-person company. Hövding went on to win the Index: Awards “play” category in 2011 – the world’s largest monetary award for design. Index: Awards focuses on designs that target and solve problems in daily life.
Hövding currently costs about $500, which, for many people, makes this helmet cost prohibitive. However, Hövding does offer a prospective alternative to the many people who choose not to wear a traditional helmet because of aesthetic or comfort concerns. Hopefully, in time, the visionaries who made an invisible helmet possible will find a way to make it more affordable for the everyday cyclist.
This is so awesome I might reconsider my usual hostility to mandatory bike helmets!