Aussie Dyson entrant gives helmets a 21st Century overhaul

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Aussie Dyson entrant gives helmets a 21st Century overhaul

July 31st, 2013

James Dyson Awards entries close August 1, but one of this year’s Australian entries is already gaining interest from police motorcycle departments around the world.

The Forcite Helmet.
(Credit: Alfred Boyadgis)

Design and engineering students have just one day left to get entries into this year’s James Dyson Awards. The awards aim to support innovative ideas that offer practical solutions to big problems in the real world. Australian entries have won the worldwide competition twice in the past three years so we’ve been identified as one of the hotbeds of smart thinking amongst the contenders and one Australian entry into this year’s awards is already turning heads amongst its target market.

Alfred Boyadgis, 23, from the University of New South Wales has designed a new police motorcycle helmet to provider greater comfort and greater communications than has been available to motorcycle police officers.

The Forcite helmet features live radio communications built-in. Right now this actually requires motorcycle police to remove their helmet regularly to maintain communications with other members of the wider emergency services. On its own that would be a good step forward.

But Boyadgis has also designed a a rapid response head-up display with camera based alerts as well as GPS integration. The visor system also increases vision and impact safety by more than 65 per cent. See the video below for even more smart features that improve comfort, weight, safety, and effectiveness in the field.

While the helmet has yet to reach production, Boyadgis has already had requests for test units from as far away as the Coral City Police Department in Florida, USA. Boyadgis hopes a big win in the Dyson Awards would help him commercialise his working prototype.