Cyclists and motorcyclists wearing helmets sometimes find it difficult to carry it with them. Such was the case for America’s Isis Shiffer who decided to invent an ecological helmet known as EcoHelmet.
Made from cheap materials and recyclable paper that costs less than $ 5, the helmet resembles a banana when folded and a honeycomb when open to protect the head in absorbing an impact.
The ecological helmet is also coated with a material which is rain-resistant for three to four hours.
The design was tested at Imperial College in London. “They have a test bench for helmets and a professor in charge of the laboratory. There is a frame with an anvil on the bottom and an accelerometer to measure speed and impact,” explained Isis Shiffer. According to the designer, everyone remained speechless about the strength of the helmet.
Among the other features: it is one size with a stretch material conforming to your head. Elegant, distinctive and aesthetic, its flat folding makes it smaller than any other helmet. The ecological helmet is also coated with a material which is rain-resistant for three to four hours.
The ecological helmet won the James Dyson International Award this year. Sir James Dyson is a British inventor and industrial designer. He is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which operates on the principle of cyclonic separation.
Isis Shiffer will receive 30,000 pounds sterling to develop the helmet. Describing it as the “Holy Grail” of the design award, she said she was “surprised” to win it. She hopes to fly the new helmet in New York in the spring, perhaps initially, offering it free to cyclists.
