

Invisible Bike Helmet Protects Head, and Fashion Sense - schwarz
http://medgadget.com/2012/08/invisible-bike-helmet-protects-head-and-fashion-sense-video.html

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timmyd
Yeah - it's totally awesome a but few things to note to be the devils
advocate.

1) It cost around $10 million to get it to this point - that's OK as they have
got it working but it's a significant capital spend. 2) It cost $600 USD
approx for 1 helmet 3) Once it's deployed, time for another $600 USD - it's a
one-use helmet (hey it does save your life)

If they can get the price point down it would be totally awesome and they
probably will with time. But until it provides a greater flexion point than
the good old $20 bike helmet - it's probably not going to sell to governments
etc who would be a huge market for this.

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caf
All bicycle helmets are one-use in that sense - if your helmet is involved in
an impact, you're supposed to throw it away.

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jere
True, but hasn't everyone fallen off of a bicycle _without_ hitting their
head? In other words, false positives cost $600 a pop. Perhaps that's totally
insignificant. This is without a doubt an amazing accomplishment.

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owyn
A fashionable bike helmet isn't really "saving the world" by any stretch of
the imagination, but it's a nice video.

Anyway, airbag vests already exist for motorcycles... There are various
designs, protecting the body and the neck. I've never owned one, but it looks
like they typically operate using a cable which is attached to the motorcycle
and a CO2 cartridge. Cost is similar, maybe $500, and they are usually
reusable assuming they aren't actually tweaked in the crash.

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js2
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4388056>

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laserDinosaur
"People wonder how girls could invent anything this technical"

Errr...what? I know it was a girl who said that, but jesus that sounds like a
sexist thing to say.

