By Evan Ackerman
Bicycle helmets are a useless inconvenience every single moment of their existence except for that one super important one when they protect you from death (or such less punishment). Part of the problem is their shape, which (while a predefined inevitability) is not an efficient use of space. The Tatoo helmet (that comes from the french ‘tatou’ which means armadillo) is made out of flexible (and recyclable!) interconnected polypropylene that unsnaps from itself and packs flat for storage.
The problem here is that the convenience of having a bendy helmet kinda means that the helmet is, uh, bendy. As in not rigid. And last time I checked, rigidity was a rather important part of the whole “protecting your brain from impacts” thing. Good thing it looks like it’s still a concept at this stage.
[ Abitare ] VIA [ Fast Company ]
I think it's a good start to an idea, but like you said, bendy doesn't really seem safe. Maybe more pieces and more hard material.
What protects your head tha most in a helmet is not that it is hard, ist more that the shock will get absorbet by the stuff between the road and your head, and as you can see, there is pretty much orange stuff in the concept… Hard helmets can even be dangerous, your head wont get a scratch, but still you could have serious brain damage…
Orange, that may suggest d3o.
d3o is a new kind of viscoelastic damping polymer. It has non-newtonian physical properties, it is malleable and bendy under normal conditions but hardens instantly upon impact – application of sudden force.
http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/…
This will do little in the vast majority of bike impacts.
The majority of bike impacts are in the forehead region, which is why helmet manufacturers are very adamant that you know how to properly wear the helmet (not on the back of your head/crown, but on the top.
The only part of this glorified bonnet hat that is covering your forehead is the cheap bendable plastic. You may as well be wearing a pillowcase.
Orange, that may suggest d3o.
d3o is a new kind of viscoelastic damping polymer. It has non-newtonian physical properties, it is malleable and bendy under normal conditions but hardens instantly upon impact – application of sudden force.
http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/…
This will do little in the vast majority of bike impacts.
The majority of bike impacts are in the forehead region, which is why helmet manufacturers are very adamant that you know how to properly wear the helmet (not on the back of your head/crown, but on the top).
The only part of this glorified bonnet that is covering your forehead is the cheap bendable plastic. You may as well be wearing a pillowcase.