I like this idea, but I find it hard to believe that an air bag would be anywhere near as effective as a traditional helmet. Is there some way to see the research and statistics on this thing? I'd like to see how it measures up to a hard helmet in various situations. Because it would be awesome to not have to wear a helmet.

Beyond cool.

My son wears an inflating jacket for motorcyclists. I do worry about it being abraded or punctured on impact. Still, anything that makes anyone safer is a great invention. Congratulations to Anna and Terese

Holy crap! Absolutely amazing! I would never even have thought of that. But I'm assuming it's like its automobile counterpart, and will be single use once deployed. I wonder how much sudden acceleration must register for it to activate. And the cost, and therefore the expense of replacing it. (Technically, standard bike helmets should also be replaced if your head ever hits the ground, but many people don't necessarily do that, and crashes don't always happen because you're hit by a car.)

Wow.... brilliant!

I still believe a regular helmet is cheaper and more effective than this contraption. I don't see how you need to look good while biking!?

Holy moly! I am blown away!

After picking my jaw from the floor after the "get a rooster and there will be order" and "people wondered how girls could design something so technical" comments, I thought for a bit about this design. I don't see how it could work in passive bike accident where there is no initial impact, such as a head-over-handlebars bad-braking incident, or a misjudged turn in the rain (bike slides, and down you go). Automotive air bags depend on entropy to deploy, and so must these helmets. There is no sudden change of force in the aforementioned accidents...until you it the ground.

Really great idea, but apparently it costs $600 and can only be deployed once. Not much money if it saves your head, but I don't see it replacing standard helmets too soon.

...forgot to add: Major kudos, however, for designing something that appears to protect the neck as well as the head, and that too-fragile spot where the cervical spine meets the skull.

Awesome idea, and I can see how it would work. For anyone who's wondering if it would deploy in a low-speed or low-impact crash, I can only say that cars are now designed so the side impact airbags deploy in advance of rolling a car. There's a lot of data you can collect with a motion sensor that will predict you're going to roll a car way before the occupants know it. I imagine this uses the same concept.

And I would TOTALLY buy one. I love to bike to the store, but hate how I look with my bangs plastered to my head due to the helmet. Plus this will be so much cooler in hot weather. $600 is expensive, but would increase my likelihood of biking places by a factor of 5 so I would consider it worth it.

@OM_G You never NEED to look good, but what if you want to? My bicycle is super cute and I can wear a nice skirt and heels and still ride it but the helmet ruins the look. I'm certainly not going to NOT wear one, but it would be nice to have an alternative.

@ESZ anyone who doesn't replace their helmet after a crash is asking to die in the next one. It would probably be better if normal helmets were obviously unusable after a single accident.

I don't see why everyone thinks it wouldn't work; it doesn't take much of an accelerometer to tell when suddenly it's moving down very quickly. That may not be how they implemented it but it's certainly possible.

@Rural and Rueful entropy? Huh? According to this site, airbags deploy upon experiencing a sudden deceleration in a car. Entropy has nothing to do with it. Did you mean momentum, maybe?

It probably will be as good as a hard helmet, given how minimal the protection helmets give is. There are an awful lot of things the average cyclist can do that will make far bigger improvements to their safety than wear a plastic hat - I wish the media would focus on those things. Oh, but I gues just saving lives is too dull if there isn't any product to push.

Holy smokes! I am amazed!

@om_g, the us bike culture is TOTALLY different from europe... everyone in europe bikes everywhere on their little 1-speed, upright bikes with a basket on the back for groceries, to work, to a date, whatever. speaking as a girl who wants her hair to look reasonable when she gets there, if the cost of this can be lowered it'll totally go mainstream.

ah, if only we could harness entropy to do things, that would rock.

(and i think this rocks, i always wear a helmet for safety, but i love the feel of the wind in your hair when biking. my only concern would be that it would make you even hotter wearing some bulky thing around your neck)

very cool.

@ Liefie: My bike has 3 speeds and the basket is in the front so there! ;) No you are completely right. Check out this picture of bike parking by a train station - not that that make this unique. It pretty much looks like this everywhere here in Denmark: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16nine/6935981837/

Uh and the fact that always get a good WHAT! response: I'm 32 and I don't have a drivers license in fact I only have 1 friend that does - she's German. Bikes are an essential part of our culture here. I ride my bike everywhere even to Ikea although not if I'm buying something large like a when I got my 2 folding Franklin bar stools - then I take the bus.

I think that the video shows the research was done to make the helmet work in the context in which it will be used. This is going to go viral in Europe and Asian. North America is too timid.

This is amazing! Actually if you are in an biking accident and even if your bicycle helmet doesn't look damaged you should replace. There are small fractures that can occur which make it less safe in the next go around. So really all bicycle helmets can only be "deployed" once. Also, not sure how many accidents most people get in on average but I have only been in two throughout my life. To feel the breeze again in the summer would be worth it for me.

@Ploefff- I had the chance to visit Odense and Copenhagen 2 years ago, and I was amazed at how many bicycles there were! Also, the Danes I met were all so healthy and fit, because they biked everywhere. As soon as I got back to the U.S., I noticed how much time I spend sitting in my car.

I would buy one! Amazing!

Hard helmets work because the EPS liner distributes an impact over a larger surface area.

So does an airbag.

This will work as long as it deploys. We're easily at this point in technology and I can't see why it wouldn't.

I guess it won´t look (and feel) that "invisible" when it´s summer and very warm...;-)

More info, very cool: http://www.hovding.com/en/how/

I thought that this was going to be a trick as in - the invisible bike helmet is the one that you don't need when there is good infrastructure as in the Netherlands, Denmark, etc. (Although even in these places I'm still horrified that people don't wear helmets! Everyone should always wear a helmet!)

That said, this is a brilliant invention! Nicely done!

Absolutely Awesome!
They make inflatable protective vests for equestrians which have been around for several years -- they inflate when you become dismounted/airborne from your saddle...
great technology and kudos to these women for their vision and drive.

I am so disgusted by people who refuse to wear bike helmets. Yes, they are hot and unattractive, but so is the feeding tube my friend had to use after his serious bike accident, and the suction to clear his throat when he could not swallow didn't look like much of a picnic either.

Cool idea ... now if only they could get rid of the rest of the sucky parts about riding a bike (namely how you get all sweaty and can't carry more than one grocery bag of stuff)

I think it's brilliant, and its already in stores. In horse riding, mainly in eventing they have been using inflatable protective gear for a while now. A so-called "Hit air vest". Way safer than its predecessors.

I want one! Not that I care too much about what I look like while on the bike, but I do care some for what I look like at the office.

This gave me chills! So Cool!

Straight out of Snow Crash! Awesome to see this realized!

I'm a bit late with my comments on this post, but the helmet discussion drives me nuts sometimes, so I just had to react.

I'm Dutch and live in Berlin. I have never heard of any adult who fell off his bike and hurt himself, without the involvement of another person (or alcohol). Accidents do happen, but only when people on bikes are not following traffic rules or people in cars are not paying attention!

Especially in car-minded countries like Germany and the US, people are pointing at the cyclists to wear helmets and protect themselves, instead of looking at the real issues like ignorance about correct traffic behaviour and the arrogance of drivers!

Children in the Netherlands get traffic lessons in school, which makes cycling a normal mode of transportation for them, as opposed to the extreme sport attitude often I see towards cycling in bike-hating Berlin.

Kudos to Anna and Teresa for their great invention, but unnecessary if people would stop participating in this 'safety' craze and start using their brains.

Brilliant!

Probably not so useful for mountain biking. But cool. I hate wearing a helmet, and I don't for daily riding. I would wear this, though, which would be an improvement over not wearing one, surely?

If it had a gyro or something similar in it, it could easily detect the change in angle/gravity (I'm no scientist, so I dont know the exact details)