The Hovding Chieftain is a clever new product from those innovative Swedish folk, which is basically an instant deploy airbag for a cyclist’s head. The idea is to do away with the helmet altogether in favour of a discreet 670g collar which you wear over your clothing. The collar contains a shed load of sensors, and if it detects a crash or spill instantly fires up the airbag to protect the head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Oud3iGXWY
The tough nylon fabric airbag inflates in 0.1 seconds using a small helium gas canister in the rear of the unit, and you charge up the thing using a standard micro USB cable. The makers say you’ll need to keep it topped up every 2 weeks if you ride 30 minutes a day. The Chieftain is available in two sizes, small and medium for ages 15 and above.
All in all a highly innovative invention which deserves to do well, especially since it seems to offer more protection than the standard bike helmet most people wear. The device is currently priced at a pre-order €270.00/$376.00, which will make it a tad expensive for most people, but no doubt prices will reduce once the thing starts selling in volume. [Via]
Chieftain is a bicycle helmet unlike anything available on the market today. A stylish, ergonomic, handy helmet that meets all safety requirements, while remaining unobtrusive and blend with your other clothes….Air bag is triggered by sensors – accelerometers and gyro-meters – which records the abnormal movement of the rider in an accident. The sensors then sends a signal to the gas generator for inflating…
I had a 99-word coverage on this: http://www.99fallingapples.com/design-concept/hov…