INVISIBLE HELMET, VISIBLE PROBLEM
Image via Hovding
The world is atwitter about the Hovding, a helmet designed by a pair of design students and touted as an “invisible helmet”. It’s supposed to balance the needs of vain cyclists like me who want to let our crusty dreadlocks flow free while still being safe little eco-warriors. Worn around the neck, the Hovding’s system of gyroscopes and accelerometers detects sudden shifts in trajectory and BLAMO deploys a little airbag helmet. Cool, sure. But there’s some problems.
First, the price. The Hovding costs $600. An extremely high end bicycle helmet barely breaks the $200 mark. Second, it can only be used once, unlike a helmet which can take multiple poundings. One bad trip and you’re out several hundo. And, speaking as a cyclist, you really don’t want anything around your neck when you’re riding, even when it’s cold, due to the nature of the exercise.
And there’s the issue with the promotional video which seems to fixate on the designers themselves and the fact that they are women, as if women couldn’t have done something so complicated. Weird.
What do you think about the Hovding?
-
strangelystrange reblogged this from wiredinsider and added:
love love love love love
-
oliveargyle likes this
-
wiredinsider posted this
