{"id":13312,"date":"2012-08-28T13:00:05","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T18:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcitement.com\/?p=13312"},"modified":"2013-04-08T01:30:11","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T06:30:11","slug":"the-invisible-bicycle-helmet-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/culture\/the-invisible-bicycle-helmet-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":"The Invisible Bicycle Helmet Is Here"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-13328\" title=\"Hovding\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/techcitement.comadmin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Hovding.jpg\" width=\"575\" height=\"240\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Take a preliminary glimpse at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hovding.com\/en\/hovding\" target=\"_blank\">photos<\/a> 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 \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.focusforwardfilms.com\/films\/49\/\" target=\"_blank\">it\u2019s real<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/43038579?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=9c1e1e\" height=\"475\" width=\"575\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>H\u00f6vding (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\u2019s 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\u2019t like the way traditional helmets look or feel and complained about the bulk or about damage to their hairstyles.<\/p>\n<p>H\u00f6vding looks like a large fabric collar, similar to a bulky scarf, which zips around the wearer\u2019s 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 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-13329\" title=\"Hovding inflated\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/techcitement.comadmin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Hovding-inflated.jpg\" width=\"337\" height=\"451\" \/>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\u2019s motion during each crash. This database of movement helps the H\u00f6vding sensors discern the difference between a crash and normal bicycling movement.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike a traditional helmet, H\u00f6vding must be turned on and off by fastening the zipper pull-tab after zipping up the collar. A small battery powers H\u00f6vding\u2019s 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 H\u00f6vding inflation. After one accident or collision, the H\u00f6vding is finished, but if you send the black box back to the company, it\u2019ll use the information to improve H\u00f6vding and give you a discount on a replacement.<\/p>\n<p>H\u00f6vding meets the requirements of the European Union\u2019s 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, H\u00f6vding 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 H\u00f6vding measured just 65 Gs of force, as compared to 200 Gs registered by a traditional helmet.<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, H\u00f6vding 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. H\u00f6vding went on to win the <a href=\"http:\/\/designtoimprovelife.dk\/index.php?option=com_content_custom&amp;view=category&amp;id=40:winners-2011&amp;Itemid=302&amp;layout=default\" target=\"_blank\">Index: Awards<\/a> \u201cplay\u201d category in 2011 \u2013 the world\u2019s largest monetary award for design. Index: Awards focuses on designs that target and solve problems in daily life.<\/p>\n<p>H\u00f6vding currently costs about $500, which, for many people, makes this helmet cost prohibitive. However, H\u00f6vding 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 \u2013 it\u2019s real. H\u00f6vding (the official name of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[905,907,908],"tags":[3232,3233,942,3234,1006,401,180],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13312"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18646,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13312\/revisions\/18646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techcitement.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}