gerv 

Something like this might be a good idea.

You could wear a beret while riding and still enjoy the advantages of a helmet.

surreal

I think BSNYC lampooned this a l'il while ago....

Anywho, I think I'd feel like more of a tool if I were seen wearing a beret in public, as opposed to a helmet... At least ppl would understand why I'm wearing a helmet.

MEversbergII

Or I could just wear a helmet.

You know what doesn't fail to deploy when I need it? A helmet.

M.

daihard 

"Cars are so yesterday. Bikes are the future."

That.

I also agree that the current helmets are extremely bulky. They are a pain to carry around. I sure wish I had an invisible helmet like that.

dcrowell

When I ride to a bar in the dark, in the rain, in November, I wear my helmet in.... because I want everyone to know that I rode a bike in that crap.

I-Like-To-Bike

Why? Do they then offer you free drinks out of pity or admiration?

MEversbergII

I like my reputation as a total hardman.

M.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is that related to being known as a renowned Swordsman to the ladies?

dcrowell

I do occasionally get a free beer. I'm not sure why. The bartenders there ride bikes... maybe it's related.

cooker

That inflatable helmet is very expensive, and bulky around the neck - I wonder if it will ever catch on.

gerv 

And I wonder if it supports single use only. Be interesting to see.

treal512

Interesting. I very much dislike wearing my helmet. Especially when I'm just cruising in a small radius around town.

daihard 

Being a helmet advocate, I must agree with you. I've even come to believe that helmets can get in the way of making cycling a ubiquitous means of transport.

bragi

This looks promising. I sail, and the invisible helmet idea seems to be a hybrid of air bags and auto-inflatable life vests. I like the idea of not having a piece of Styrofoam on my head.I do wonder, though, how it would feel to wear a huge collar around my neck in warm weather...

I dimly remember BSNY mocking the idea, but I can't remember why he hated it...

Dahon.Steve

I was thinking the same.

That helmet is going to be more expensive than anthing made by Giro. Plus you have to recharge the battery every day. I also wonder about long term durability and how those electronics will act in cold weather or rain.

I don't think this will increase helmet use. The only people I see buying this are hard core cyclist. I have to admire those girls for spending seven years of their lives on this project. I hope it succeeds.

daihard 

I'm hoping that the product will be more compact and more refined in the near future, to the point where it can be easily snapped onto a jacket. It will be thin and lightweight, and will require very little effort to carry around.

Radials983

Our current helmet design is pretty stupid simple and effective. A molded foam core with a plastic shell, and chinstrap. Most importantly it's always on, and doesn't have to deploy. No batteries, no computer chips, no wires to pull loose, no gas charges, no fabric cover to get sweaty. I'm not thrilled about there being a computer chip which is the know-all of whether my head is about to hit something, or if something is about to hit my head. In a car-on-bike accident the car windshield is only the first strike for a cyclist's head. After that it's likely going to strike the ground at least once. How many bounces is this air bag helmet good for? I can't help but believe that a big driving factor for the development of this helmet is to preserve vanity. In doing so they are overly complicating a proven design, and providing more vulnerability to the riders head with an alternative that surly will be more expensive and resource intensive.

cooker

In the still frame at the start of the video, the blond designer has her long hair draped over the collar. I wonder if, as it inflates, it could catch on her hair or rip some of it out.

Roody

A styrofoam helmet isn't going to help much in a car-bike crash.

Radials983

That is very circumstantial to the accident.

shipwreck

When I was hit from behind by a guy on a motorcycle, I hit the ground head first hard enough to break my collar bone, then rolled a couple of times, slamming the back of my head into the ground, then sliding a few feet, abrading the helmet down about half an inch. All in all it looked like about three major impacts(I was going about 25 or so when I went over the bars). The helmet was literally in fragments held together by a smashed shell.

So, while that did not turn me into a helmet crusader(I still ride without one every once in a while)I do believe that if your going to bother with one, it should be of the K.I.S.S. variety.

Blue_Bulldog

If I am understanding these marginally attractive engineers correctly....

Bike helmets need doing away with because they're bulky, uncomfortable, and for some reason their number one complaint is they look stupid. So the solution they propose is a big, bulky neck scarf looking thing that straps around your neck? In summer? Not to mention I would sooner go three rounds with Ivan Drago before I get seen in public wearing something that looks like what my ancestors wore on the boat over here from the old country. Oh, and I pity the fool who tries to quickly look behind them... or even to the left... wearing this contraption.

I mean, if I missed something, correct me... please. But this is their solution? Take something that wasn't terribly uncomfortable to begin with, has zero moving parts, is possibly the most reliable passive restraint available... and replace it with something twice as bulky, restrictive, and uglier than Mickey Rourke??

And this video DIDN'T come from The Onion**********

I-Like-To-Bike

Brought to you by:

People who believe in the need for a product that allegedly provides head protection at all times while bicycling;
and/or with a desire to make some bucks off the people that do have that belief/need.

Expect more creativity along these lines.

Roody

Maybe they should go with airbags in the handlebars.

Brannigan

The idea of airbag helmets shall -in the future- be placed in the same category as Biopace chainrings.