Cycling with style is not as easy as it sounds. No matter how trendy you might dress, once you put that protective helmet on, you can’t help but feel that your sense of fashion is being rudely attacked. This is precisely why so many people choose to ride their bicycles without a helmet, thus risking their health in case of an accident.
Thankfully, someone came up with a really great solution for this problem. Swedish designers Terese Alstin and Anna Haupt have created an invisible cycling helmet, called Hödving, which in English means “Chieftain”. Basically a huge Lady Gaga-style airbag, the helmet is contained in a stylish collar that can make an excellent accessory for men and ladies alike.
Shaped like a hood, the helmet-slash-airbag is only deployed when its sensors detect an abnormal movement of the bicyclist, like the ones expected to occur in an accident. Interestingly, the collar also includes a small “black box”, which records the 10 seconds of movement information before and after the accident, which can be an excellent tool for the makers of the helmet who want to continually improve the product. For this, of course, every person whose invisible helmet deploys is asked to send the black box to the creators of the Hödving for analysis.
There are two color versions for the collar at the moment, a black one and a multicolored one with paisley pattern. Priced around $600, the helmet is an excellent life and style saver. The idea for this product came when a new Swedish law was passed, requiring everyone younger than 16 years old to wear a helmet while cycling. It was then when the two designers of the Hödving decided that “It isn’t the bicyclists who need to change, it’s the product.” Thank you, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin.
