Sep 25 2008Wearable Airbags For The Clumsy, Elderly
Japanese manufacturer Prop is now selling wearable airbags for old folks and people who just can't stand for long.
Its newly announced personal, wearable airbag looks like a cool fanny-pack and weighs a mere 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) -- but springs forth in one-tenth of a second when sensors detect you're headed for the floor, protecting your head and ass with two inflated bags that contain 3.9 gallons of gas each.
Unfortunately, safety comes at a price. And that price is $1,400. Are grandma's delicate bones worth the cost? Hint: Duct tape and pillows.
Wearable airbags keep the elderly from hitting the ground so hard [engadget]
Thanks to Julian and Ross, who both threw themselves down the stairs wearing bubblewrap jackets and lived to tell about it.
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Reader Comments
1. ahha - September 25, 2008 10:51 AM
Fake... There is no such thing as a cool fanny pack.
2. guate6 - September 25, 2008 10:54 AM
I've been thinking about something like this for years...but more so for motorcyclists, and have some sort of attachment to a motorcycle so that if they did fly off, they'd inflate...not sure how it'd work if they didn't fly off or accidentally forgot to detach themselves when getting off their bike.
Neat idea though.
3. Baja - September 25, 2008 10:56 AM
I wish we had those in Never Back Down.
4. Jesus - September 25, 2008 10:57 AM
lol wow...imaghine that.
a bunch a kids will be having hella fun with THAT lol.
boy will this invention get abused.
5. commentzor - September 25, 2008 10:59 AM
@4: Not at $1400 a pop it won't.
I take it this is like a car airbag, and it's a single use thing. It doesn't specifically say that though.
6. Jesus - September 25, 2008 11:01 AM
@5
Not at $1400 a pop it won't.
lol like buying drugs....NO!!! if we make it more expensive...they DEFINITELY wont abuse it! :D
7. the sysop - September 25, 2008 11:04 AM
@6
Not at $1400 a pop it won't.
8. Jesus - September 25, 2008 11:04 AM
totally unrelated but i imagined something funny....
A guy's watch goes off on a plane...
"HE'S GOT A BOMB!!!"
9. mr kaizer - September 25, 2008 11:20 AM
sounds like something out of snow crash
10. Muryu - September 25, 2008 11:20 AM
whats jesus been smoking? lepers?
11. Jayfournines - September 25, 2008 11:25 AM
just what we need...old people living longer. Plus, this is clearly a scene from Never Back Down
12. DrNecropolis - September 25, 2008 11:27 AM
Hey don't knock leper till you tried it.
@1 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,*whew* good stuff
13. Mothy - September 25, 2008 11:32 AM
I definetly need one of these for when i go out drinking. Don't have to worry about falling over when i'm too smashed...this could make a great party trick too, especially if your going to jump of the roof of your house.....ha ha ha yeah ok.
14. Jo Mama - September 25, 2008 11:37 AM
If only they made these for "precious one of a kind collectables".
15. Jo Mama - September 25, 2008 11:39 AM
And on second thought, wouldn't this thing give the elderly wearer a heart attack whenever the thing spontaneously explodes around them? I still get scared when my toast pops out of the toaster. :(
16. DreamFolder - September 25, 2008 11:44 AM
@2
Ringworld by Larry Niven - sky cycles, built by Puppetteers, have built in safety devices that cocoon the rider in foam in the event of an impending crash. Could be done.
17. xxgogsxx - September 25, 2008 11:45 AM
You'd have to be a complete ass to order this
18. Ash - September 25, 2008 11:53 AM
They may have not had them in never back down but at least they had them in fools gold
19. ChamClowder - September 25, 2008 11:54 AM
@1> Not fake.
Saw it on the news this morning. I just wanna see someone wearing this to get hit by a car.
20. ahha - September 25, 2008 12:00 PM
@19
REALLY!!??!!
21. LSDiesel - September 25, 2008 12:20 PM
I actually kind of wish that all elederly people would start wearing these, because as of right now, I still feel kinda bad when I intentionally knock them over.
22. Thumperchica - September 25, 2008 12:43 PM
Great, if we keep "protecting" ourselves from life, we won't be capable of living in our own world.
And I totally agree with #1- I have yet to see a "cool" fanny pack...
23. TochiroV - September 25, 2008 1:11 PM
yes this totally does sound like something out of Science Fiction. a street surfer named YT wears such a device in Snowcrash *nods @9* yet another case of a good idea in science fiction becoming reality.
this will make harpooning cars on the interstate for a free ride much safer.
24. Miles - September 25, 2008 1:31 PM
@16- I just re-read the Ringworld series. Good books. I don't specifically recall the foam except when the Kzin dude was burned by the sunflower-thingies. "The worlds' only bouncy kzin." (or something like that). Thanks for the memories.
25. AtomicSquid - September 25, 2008 1:53 PM
Grandma will have a heart attack when the thing goes off but no broken bones...
26. ginormagantuan - September 25, 2008 3:43 PM
yeah imagine all them old f***ers after they fall on their back try to roll their old asses over to get up, NOT HAPpening, everyone knows old people are like turtles, they just can't go anywhere if layed on their backs.
27. LSDiesel - September 25, 2008 3:59 PM
@26, keep talking about old people laying on their backs, and Nick Bacon will probably start masturbating.
28. Ginormagantuan - September 26, 2008 1:30 AM
@27 LOLZ you get raise on your interwebz today sir!!!!!!!! you just earned yourself 5 more cents a month!
29. Subaruzi - September 26, 2008 10:11 PM
This is for motorcycles. They have had them for a while. Ain't no thang.