'Helpmet' to the Rescue

No, that's not a typo in the headline. A Thai company is working on a helmet that uses the mobile phone network to call ambulances in case of a crash. And it is calling its project the 'Helpmet'. In essence, it makes use of smartphone technology which includes a SIM card and a GPS, impact sensors (obviously) and a battery that is rechargeable.

The impact sensors trigger off the distress calls only after it registers an impact of 95g or more, which means that the accident has to be reasonably bad. A simple knock or a tip-over will not cause the sensors to raise an alarm and send ambulances scrambling to you. But of course, if you happen to get thrown off your motorcycle at a decent speed and drop unconscious, you might as well save yourself the trouble of calling for medical help, because the 'Helpmet' would have already done it for you.

The company will also host a website where the helmet customers can register themselves and fill in all the information that might be required in case of an emergency such as the home address, contact details, the person to contact in an emergency situation and so on. The website can also give off information to the paramedics such as medical and allergy history and so on.

The overall project is still in testing phase, so we will not comment on the way the current prototype looks, because it is really an old and ageing design. But as we said, we will reserve judgment till the actual product comes out in the market. A couple of months ago, BMW Motorrad also introduced SOS services on its motorcycles.

(Source: Visordown.com)