A helmet is an essential safety device but, lugging around a bulky helmet is so inconvenient that many two wheeler riders and their pillions would chose to go without one—even though this may be a fatal choice. While rules have come into place for enforcing helmet usage, there have been no noticeable design interventions for improving the Indian two-wheeler driver and pillions helmet experience. This is in spite of many improvements available in materials and technologies over the years.

The ‘collapsible helmet’ is user centered, by intervention in this area by our team. This helmet was designed to easily collapse with a single flick; becoming compact and easy to carry. Over the years, our team has pushed the helmet design through many iterative layers of safety, anatomy, manufacture, economics, ease-of-use, ergonomics and style considerations.

Apart from the two piece locking mechanism, the outer shell is made up of contemporary materials like polycarbonate; the inner padding is made up of expanded polystyrene and other materials like silicone and elastomeric plastics.

Features:

The new prototypes being designed are now delving deeper into contemporary materials and technology using the following considerations:

■  Indian weather conditions, such as high heat and humidity, which results in discomfort due to excessive sweating and               resulting odours

■ User aspirations in terms of styling, convenience and additional desirable features such as integrated music and phone use

■  Ergonomic issues to suit different head dimensions