Automotive

The perfect body to survive a high-speed crash

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Everyone, meet Graham. And be polite - he can't help the way he looks
Graham's face is covered in fatty tissue 
Graham is a human designed to survive a road accident 
Even Graham's legs and knees have been redesigned 
The thinking behind Graham's "choice" modifications 
The thinking behind Graham's "choice" modifications 
Users can interact with the sculpture online, or using Google Tango AR
The ribs are interspersed with airbag-style sacks 
Everyone, meet Graham. And be polite - he can't help the way he looks
The thinking behind Graham's modifications 
View gallery - 9 images

Humans have adapted and evolved to meet all sorts of challenges over the ages, but surviving a car accident is not one of them. Hypothetically, some version of modern man could survive a big crash, but he's certainly not pretty. Everyone, meet Graham.

Alright, lets get this out of the way. Graham is seriously ugly, but he's ugly for good reason. Created as an educational tool, he's designed to push the Victorian Traffic Accident Commission's (TAC) anti-speed message to students.

"People can survive running at full pace into a wall but when you're talking about collisions involving vehicles, the speeds are faster, the forces are greater and the chances of survival are much slimmer," says TAC chief executive officer Joe Calafiore. "Cars have evolved a lot faster than humans and Graham helps us understand why we need to improve every aspect of our roads system to protect ourselves from our own mistakes."

Graham's face is covered in fatty tissue 

The finished product was created by Australian sculptor Patricia Piccinini, who worked alongside a trauma surgeon and crash investigator. Instead of making Graham harder by adding armor to his body, the focus was on making him better at dissipating force.

For example, Graham's ribs are interspersed with airbag-style sacks to soak up force from a hard impact. The delicate bones making up his face are protected by masses of fatty tissue, and he's got no neck, so whiplash is no longer a concern. Even his skull has a crumple zone.

Graham isn't just designed to survive an accident from behind the wheel, he's designed to survive one as a pedestrian as well. With multi-directional knees, abrasion-resistant skin and that skull with built-in crumple zones, he's far better prepared to bounce off a car's bonnet than the average human.

The sculpture will be displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia. Students will also be able to look under Graham's skin using Google Tango AR in the classroom.

The TAC's explainer video is below.

Source: Victorian TAC

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11 comments
El Bonko
I think he's kinda cute, in the same way as a pug. Ugly-cute. Cugly, if you will.
gizmowiz
Splat is still splat when facing a semi on an Interstate.....
Buellrider
He's got cankle of the neck. Looking like that would make you not want to survive. He is what you get when you cross a human with a hippo, a humpo.
zevulon
i dub this hominid, homo-caraccidentus
Ernie the Dancing Weasel
Wow. This is disturbing on so many levels...
Timelord
Or we can just mandate a quick transition to only autonomous vehicles on the road. A fully developed computer driving system can drive more safely than any human, saving passengers and pedestrians alike. Every year that we drag our feet on this initiative, tens of thousands die on the roads.
Imran Sheikh
you are wrong HULK can survive any thing, and what is this thing HOMO-UGLYCTUS
ChairmanLMAO
well lets see him all smashed up. a few after photos wouldn't hurt. and how about the wife and kids. i'll bet his car is all jacked too like defensive mad max.
icykel
Forget the ugly. The previous comments re GRAHAM, tell more about where the human race has evolved mentally. What is beauty/ugly ? Maybe the best action round this subject is no action - just let natural selection do it's thing. If GRAHAM is the result then our perception of beautiful/ugly will quickly adapt to the new 'design', see Elbonko's comment. After all, survival of the species is what evolution is about, surely. I'm surprised that Piccinini came up with such a humanoid looking 'thing', I think I would have created something more in line with the PUFFER-FISH - self inflating on impact. Or maybe, as Timelord suggests, we could use what evolution has given us and get on with AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES. And.. a little restraint on population growth at the same time wouldn't go amiss. Another purely academic question might be: is it important, in the greater scheme of things, that the human species survives at all ? Another question best left to evolution ?
jwm-in-tx
Maybe due to Darwinian selection this is is what humans will look like if enough of us are killed in car accidents.