Hövding Bike Helmet
Ah, the Swedish. During a trip to Stockholm 10 years ago, I was blown away by how incredibly important and respected design is there — the Prime Minister himself came to the opening day of the Stockholm Furniture Fair. Designed by Swedes Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, Hövding is an inflatable bicycle helmet that is disguised as a stylish neck wrap. Geared towards cyclists who might avoid a typical hard helmet because it’s not stylish enough (silly, but true), warm enough (understandable in places like Sweden), or who fancy themselves immortal (vampires?), the Hövding collar is covered by a removable shell containing a folded up airbag that deploys when you have an accident. The ultra-strong nylon airbag, shaped like a sexy cyber-hood, has a trigger mechanism that is controlled by sensors – accelerometers and gyros — that pick up abnormal movements of a bicyclist in an accident. The rechargeable airbag provides soft and effective shock absorption and maintains constant pressure for several seconds, making it able to withstand several impacts to the head in the …