Two Swedish entrepreneurs have developed the invisible bike helmet (the guy in the pic below is wearing one – see it?) The design developed by Anna Haupt and Teresa Alstin won an Ideas Grant from Innovationsbron and then won a Venture Cup, and these victories allowed them to bring their idea to fruition.

The invisible helmet is actually an airbag in a collar that deploys if and when the cyclist needs it for protection. The airbag itself fits like a hood, and is made out of rip-proof nylon. It protects a larger area of the head than a traditional helmet, and Haupt and Alstin did seven years of research on bike accidents and head traumas to design the airbag to protect areas most susceptible to biker injury. A cold gas helium system inflates the airbag, and then it remains inflated for a few second after impact, just in case there are accident aftershocks, but then it starts to deflate. In order for the helmet to work, a cyclist has to wear the collar and zip it completely up to the chin. There’s an on/off button on the zipper tag that activates the helmet. LEDs on the front indicate the battery level and power status. The battery can be charged via USB, and lasts for 18 hours of cycling.

The Hovding helmet costs 399 Euros, which is about $532. Extra fabric shells are 59 Euros (just under $80). One of the coolest details about the system is that if you buy one and later have an accident, a black box in the collar will record 10 seconds of data about the cyclist’s movements during the accident. The company asks that bikers who have crashes while wearing the system contact them and send the black box back. Some insurance companies will cover at least part of the cost of a new Hovding in the event of an accident.