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Air Bag Bicycle Helmet

Bicycle helmets are only useful if people wear them, and an alarmingly high percentage of people simply don’t. Excuses abound…they’re hot, they’re uncomfortable, they look silly, and (perhaps most of all) they ruin your hairdo.

Enter…the Hovding device (also billed as the “invisible” bicycle helmet). Designed to be an airbag for your head, it looks like a bulky scarf that’s worn around your neck, but actually contains sophisticated sensors and gyroscopes. A built-in computer monitors a cyclist’s movements, velocity and angle, and any abnormal patterns which would be indicative of a collision will trigger a small gas canister in the back of the collar to inflate a protective nylon hood that covers the head and neck. Like an airbag, once deployed it cannot be used again.

In an independent study of the thirteen most popular helmets on the market by a Swedish insurance company, the Hovding device demonstrated three times better shock absorption than any competitive helmet. It currently retails for about $500.

For information: Hovding, Grimsbygatan 24, 211 20 Malmo, Sweden; phone: +46-40-236868; Web site: www.hovding.com/en/    

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