During the pandemic, one of the things that became a “trend” and has actually continued to this day is that more people are biking their way to and from their place of work. We’re seeing a lot of products catering to this market segment and there’s still a lot of room to grow as we look towards more sustainable ways of commuting. Safety is also a major concern for those riding bicycles and motorcycles so we see people carrying helmets around but it’s not always the most convenient thing.
Designer: Eliès Hamzaoui
To solve the problem of carrying around a bulky helmet, an engineer created a prototype for something called an OBH or an On Board Helmet system. The idea is to leave the helmet with your bike so you don’t have to carry it around but also without fear of it getting stolen. It is made up of the helmet itself called the Unicity and a Jorj unit which is bolted to your bike frame. The unit also has a built-in anti-theft alarm, hence the secure part.
The locking and unlocking of the helmet is actually made through an app. You don’t have a physical key so the unit needs to have Bluetooth and battery power, adding to the bulk. It is technically more secure but also a bit inconvenient for times when your smartphone may not be working. The alarm itself is activated only with prolonged movements and not the mere jostle of the bike so you don’t have to worry about accidental alarms.
While it may be more convenient to leave the helmet on your bike, it can also add to the bulk of it since this contraption seems a bit heavy because of the features mentioned. There’s always room for improvement though so hopefully we can get a better prototype for this eventually. The initial target market for this are the bikeshare companies but it can eventually appeal to the general bike-using public, provided the design is improved.
