Invisible Helt

Two Swedish women set out to invent “the invisible bicycle helmet” and succeeded by creating 'Hövding'.

Hövding is a collar for bicyclists, worn around the neck. The collar contains a folded up airbag that you'll only see if you happen to have an accident. The airbag is shaped like a hood, surrounding and protecting the bicyclist's head. The trigger mechanism is controlled by sensors which pick up the abnormal movements of a bicyclist in an accident.

The actual collar is the visible part of the invention. It's covered by a removable shell that you can change to match your outfit, and we'll be launching new designs all the time. Hövding is a practical accessory that's easy to carry around, it's got a great-looking yet subtle design, and it will save your life.

Hövding being worn around the neck

It uses rechargeable battery-powered accelerometers and gyroscopes to detect movement that resembles being in a bike crash and launches airbags around the wearer’s head. Weighing 1.5 lbs. without the shell, the airbags are powered by a cold helium inflator located in a holder in the collar. Though similar to motorcycle helmets with inflators, this helmet is only for bicycles — not skateboards, mopeds, or skates, either. The helmet also contains a “black box” that records 10 seconds of data of the cyclists’ movement before an accident.

Airbag of Hövding

The helmet costs around $600, which is an expensive safety measure. But considering the potential hospital bills and the risk of death, it might be a good investment for fashion-forward bikers.  The helmet is only good for one use, so it has to be replaced after it deploys.

Every year about 40 people die and about 30,000 are injured in bicycling accidents, and that's just in Sweden. One in three bicyclists who are injured suffer head injuries. The most effective protection against serious injuries to the skull is to wear a bicycle helmet every time you get on your bicycle. International studies show that bicycle helmets reduce injuries by at least 60%. 40% of people who die in bicycling accidents would have survived if they had been wearing a helmet.

Despite these alarming accident statistics, the vast majority of cyclists on the roads aren't wearing helmets. This is partly because bicycle helmets are bulky and impractical to carry around when you're not on your bicycle, but it's also because people think bicycle helmets look hideous and make them look silly.

More and more countries are introducing legislation to make bicycle helmets compulsory. In these countries bicycle helmet use is quite widespread, although it is still not compulsory in Britain where bicycling is a very popular means of transport. However, bicycle helmets are far from popular, to put it mildly.

There are several reasons why lots of people are choosing not to wear bicycle helmets at the moment. The traditional polystyrene helmets take up a lot of room, are hard to carry around and you can't lock them to your bicycle securely. They ruin your hair and you can't get a hat on underneath.

The range of bicycle helmets available is extremely narrow, they all look the same and the lack of variety results in very few people wearing them. For most people, bicycling isn't a sport. They're just using their bicycles to get from A to B, bicycling to work, into town or to go out in the evening. Despite this, almost all the traditional bicycle helmets on the global market have a sporty design. At the same time, image is becoming increasingly important to us and our clothes and accessories are an essential part of the way we express ourselves. Lots of people are deciding not to wear bicycle helmets because they think they look horrible and because they really don't go with their own personal style. The fact that people are choosing not to wear bicycle helmets when we all know how important the protection they provide is, was a clear sign that their design needed a radical makeover, adapting it to the demands of today's bicyclists and all their latest styles. A helmet that just sits on the shelf is no good to anyone.

Another main cause of accidents is bicycling when intoxicated. In Britain binge drinking is very common, especially amongst teenagers and students. People are less likely to think or care about wearing a helmet when drunk too. Helmets are fairly heavy so it is an inconvenience to have to wear one to or from somewhere as in between it has to be carried around.

I think this design would be very useful in countries and societies where cycling is common and cyclists are image and fashion conscious. The two places which spring to mind are Britain and China.
If brands were to collaborate with Hövding it would increase the awareness of the product for Hövding, make it 'cooler' to wear, and increase bicycle safety in general. The design is very easy to adapt, pattern wise.

Patterned Hövding

To promote this design the Government could create awareness campaigns about teenage bike accidents. 

Peterborough Evening Telegraph reporters photographed  sixteen  young cyclists riding without a helmet over a one hour period. The paper also featured photographs of a nine-year-old cyclist who was nearly killed on the 1st of July. The youngster was hit by a car and was not wearing his helmet. He suffered from serious head injury and broken bones. The boy’s family felt that  pictures of their son’s bike crash might encourage youngsters to think about their own safety.

These awareness campaigns could be shock tactic adverts on television, and they could show someone wearing variations of safety equipment, helmets and Hövding.

If collaborated with high fashion brands, the campaign photographs could be featured in fashion magazines such as Vogue and the fashion brands could hold fashion catwalk events.

Media coverage on Hövding would be useful too, coverage through the news, newspapers, articles in magazines etc.
The demonstration video could be pushed as a featured video on youtube too to encourage blogging and viewing.
Hövding could also branch out to promote via social media platforms: blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

They could also hold guerilla events in China and Britian.