How many times have you been forced to carry your motorcycle helmet around with you while at a rally or just running errands? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a more convenient way to stow that piece of safety equipment? It may soon be possible thanks to a new concept from design student Jessica Dunn, her Proteus folding motorcycle helmet.
Proteus Folding Motorcycle Helmet?
The 25-year-old Sydney native had an experience while studying abroad which led her to the Proteus folding motorcycle helmet idea. For five months Dunn studied in Indonesia and, like the locals, rode a motorcycle everywhere she had to go. At one point her motorcycle helmet was stolen and she was forced to purchase another from a roadside stall.
That helmet became part of Dunn’s wardrobe both on and off of her bike, so she became quite familiar with how much trouble it can be to carry your lid everywhere. Thus, after 150 days of dealing with this, she returned home and began to work on a solution. According to Dunn, she simply “…wanted one I could put in my backpack,” and thus was born the Proteus folding motorcycle helmet.
The James Dyson Award
Dunn’s Proteus folding helmet design actually may have a real chance to go into production thanks to its nomination for the James Dyson Award. Yes, that is the Dyson behind the world-famous Dyson bagless vacuum cleaners and the fancy laminar fans.
This award is part of the James Dyson Foundation’s mission to encourage design engineers of the future to be creative, inventive and to challenge convention. Students from 18 nations compete for an award of £10,000 with which the winner will develop their new product for market. That would go a long way towards making the Proteus folding motorcycle helmet a reality.
Proteus Design
The Proteus folding motorcycle helmet has an outer shell made of a polycarbonate resin designed to protect against abrasion and puncture. Under that is the common EPS foam; there to absorb impact energy in the event of collision. But, the cool factor comes into play in the third layer. Here the Proteus has an advanced and flexible material which hardens instantly upon impact, and still feels good against your head, thus making up three complete layers of protection.
Of course, the most interesting part of the Proteus is the whole folding motorcycle helmet concept. The design uses a special visor attachment system that is also the key to the mechanism which allows the unit to collapse. The Proteus will then reduce its volume by 20 percent when it folds its sides and back into its own interior using the high-spec integrated hinges placed at key locations throughout, making it a perfect fit for even medium sized backpacks or other motorcycle luggage.
Application of the Proteus
Safety is probably your first question, at least if you require your motorcycle helmet to actually save your life, and the Proteus has it. Dunn has specifically designed this new lid to meet the safety requirements of her Australian home. Granted, it is a three-quarter helmet, so it is not race-level protection, but the Proteus is very suitable for scooter and urban runabout duty.
Whether the Proteus folding motorcycle helmet will be for sale at a dealer near you is an absolute unknown at present. However, recent innovations in helmet technology - and motorcycle rider safety in general - certainly do make it seem possible. Designer Jessica Dunn’s Proteus concept brings to the industry a spark of imagination sorely lacking in motorcycle helmets of today.
Being safe is paramount with any safety equipment, of course. If the Proteus folding motorcycle helmet passes the stringent testing of your trusted safety authority, how useful will you find it?
