Helite safety belts help protect your hips

Helite has many years of experience in developing a dedicated airbag system for various activities, from horse riding to skiing. Now, this French company has just released a specialized airbag for the elderly. It's called Hip'Air belt.

This device can sense a sudden fall and automatically inflates the front hip protector for about 1.3 seconds, protecting the user's hips from breaking.

Helite safety belts help protect your hips Picture 1

Like other specialized airbag systems, Hip'Air relies on electronic hardware, including gyroscopes and accelerometers, based on a carefully developed algorithm. The system analyzes movements up to 1,000 times per second, detecting falls within 200ms and filling airbags below 80ms later.

Both left and right airbags expand to cover the face from the upper hip to the middle of the thigh before the impact hits the ground. Helite says that tough nylon leather bags keep the body safe from the impact.

Hip'Air has the most compact and simple design possible, integrating electronic devices and air box into the center in front. The company says that this belt fits comfortably on the hip and allows users to move freely. The skin of the belt is washable, only the connecting part is not washable.

The keychain is double as the power switch, when wearing Hip'Air on its waist will be activated and ready for hip protection. Green light indicates everything is ready. When removing the belt, or when no motion is detected, it goes to sleep mode to save battery power. Rechargeable batteries can last up to 15 days, red light and sound alerts the owner to know when to charge the battery.

Hip'Air is not the only belt on the market that has this function, as other airbag protection devices are also being developed, including one from ActiveProtective startup. The company is planning to bring Hip'Air to market with four adjustable sizes in March for 600 Euro (about 720 USD).

Someday in the future, perhaps we will all protect ourselves with a full body airbag like a cocoon with low cost and affordable price. But until then, we will continue to see the development and change of disposable airbag devices.

The video below of Helite provides a closer look at Hip'Air's features and activities.

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