Folding Bike Helmet
Travel Safer and Smarter
People are choosing not to wear a helmet because of the inconvenience
This is resulting in preventable injuries and sometimes fatal results
Research
Bicycle helmets reduce the risk of head injuries by more than 50%
About 75% of fetal bike crashes involve head injuries
Most fetal crashes are a result of not wearing a helmet
2% of motor vehicle deaths involved bicyclists
Injury to the head is the most serious when getting into an accident
How can we design a bike helmet so that they are worn more frequently?
Helmets are bulky, inconvenient to travel with and people simple don’t know what to do with them after they get off their bike.
I explored different shapes and forms to determine a simple and sleek design for a foldable helmet.
The 2 side pieces fold underneath the middle piece for easier storage into a bag when the user is no longer biking.
Indeation
I used duct tape to get the shape of my head down. Then I used it as a stencil to shape the foam of the helmet. I used EVA foam that was shaped with a heating gun, and then covered in layers of fiberglass and then finished with sanding and spray paint.
The Product
The final prototype created a helmet that makes travel easier. While compromising some safely this design is more likely to be used because of the inconvenience of normal helmets.
A helmet that is convenient and keeps people safe
Learning Outcomes
The importance of using a model for prototyping
The difficulty in innovating a product that’s been around for thousands of years
The complexity in balancing safety with convivence