Swedes love to cycle. The flipside? Sweden witnesses a large number of cycling accidents. Around 30,000 cyclists get injured every year. Out of which one-third sustain head injuries. That's because most cyclists in the country do not like wearing a helmet.
Two students at Lund University, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, wondered why?
They posed the question to the cyclists.
The answers ranged from, "they are cumbersome" to "they look terrible", "too difficult to carry around", "they ruin your hair" and so on.
If people don't like what they have then what is it that they would like to have? Anna and Terese wondered again..
They went back to the cyclists and asked them an important question: What would be your ideal bicycle helmet?
Cyclists wanted something "small and portable", "something that would fit in your pocket", "something that is nice to look at",
"something flexible" and...."something invisible".
"something flexible" and...."something invisible".
That was an 'aha' moment for the duo right there. Something invisible. And that's what they set out to design -- an invisible bicycle helmet, that would protect your head and also not ruin your hair.
The college project graduated into a business idea and Hovding Sweden AB was established in 2006.
The invisible helmet is essentially a collar that cyclists can wear discreetly around their neck.
It contains an airbag, which would be visible only in the event of a crash. It also includes intelligent high-tech devices found in automobile airbags.
The collar has motion sensors that are charged via a USB cable and lasts for approximately 18 hours.
The airbag can only be activated when the collar is put on, zipped up and the On-Off button fastened.
When the sensors detect an impending crash, helium from a cartridge inflates the hood before the head makes contact with the windshield or asphalt.
It stays inflated for a few seconds in case of multiple impacts during the same accident. The invisible helmet has three times better shock absorption than regular helmets.
Today Hovding is sold internationally. And is being favoured by helmet-shunning cyclists in Sweden.
Image courtesy: Hovding
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