Helmets

Even though a properly-fitted sports helmet is vital to avoiding brain injuries, the fitting process is still largely a subjective one. A new pressure-sensitive cap, however, could objectively ensure that each athlete gets the right helmet.

Light-equipped bike helmets are now fairly common, but most of them still have to be plugged into a charger, and manually turned on and off as needed. The just-announced Omne Eternal, however, lets ambient light do all the work.

While a vented bike helmet may keep your head cool on hot days, it certainly doesn't help keep it warm on cold days. That's why the Bridger helmet was created, as it sports interchangeable shells for different types of weather.

Although there are now many light-equipped bike helmets on the market, the Torch T1 was one of the first. Its makers have now returned to Kickstarter, with a model that features LED panels which can be removed as needed.

Engineers at Michigan State University have crafted a new type of liquid foam lining they say can help football helmets better sustain repeated impacts, improving their longevity and the safety of those wearing them.

Some people refuse to wear bike helmets because they find the things to be big, heavy and gawky-looking. The Danish-made Newton-Rider helmet is a bit different, in that it's sleek, thin, and made of semi-soft materials.

We've seen a few different head- and tail-light-equipped bike helmets over the past several years, and some of the things have looked pretty … flashy. The Faro is a bit different, though, in that it has a classier, more refined appearance.

There are now numerous "smart" bike helmets available, most of which incorporate remotely operated LED turn indicators. Well, if that's the feature you really want, Blinxi lets you add it to your existing "dumb" helmet.

When it comes to monitoring electrical activity in the brain, patients typically have to lie inside a large magnetoencephalography (MEG) machine. That could soon change, as scientists have developed a new version of a helmet that does the same job.

Although there are now several electronics-laden "smart" bike helmets on the market, the Lumos was one of the first. Now its designers are back, with the new-and-improved Lumos Ultra.

When you're changing lanes on a motorcycle while wearing a full-face helmet, performing shoulder checks can be difficult. The Revan "dashcam" system is designed to help, by providing users with a heads-up display (HUD) of their blind spots.

Helmets could soon offer better protection while also being more comfortable, thanks to a new padding material developed by HRL Laboratories. It's claimed to be better than foam at withstanding impacts, while also keeping heads cooler and drier.