And the winner is…a paper cycle helmet. Isis Shiffer, a 28-year-old New York City designer, was awarded by the James Dyson Award on November 17 for a folding “one size fits most” helmet, aimed at people who use bike-hire schemes, The Guardian reports. The recent graduate from the Pratt Design Institute in New York will receive 30,000 £ (35,300 €) to take her prototype toward commercialisation.
Branded EcoHelmet, the device is designed with a honeycomb structure that gives it strength and “can protect the head from a blow from any direction,” said Shiffer, who tested the device using crash-simulation apparatus.
James Dyson Award 2016 winner EcoHelmet:
Having won both the national prize in the US and the international one, the designer have now team up with a Los Angeles company to take the project further. To make it waterproof, the designer plans to coat the helmet with recyclable or biodegradable material, such as wax. An indicator should also warn the user when his helmet should be replaced. The finished product is expected to cost around 4 £ (4.7 €), tells The Guardian.
Previous winners of the international award, that celebrates “the next generation of design engineers”, includes a robotic arm, fishing nets that do not trap endangered species, and an inflatable incubator for premature babies.