CES tech show Las Vegas: meet the airbag vest that’s so smart it phones for help after a fall

It was a year ago that sport protection company In&motion launched an airbag vest for skiers that grabbed the company a CES Innovation Award.

Now, at the hi-tech trade show currently being held in Las Vegas, the firm has launched a version of that tech for motorcyclists.

This time, however, the vest is connected to a smart phone and can call for emergency help if a rider is in serious trouble after a fall.

The airbag jacket is constantly monitoring the position of the rider or pillion it’s fitted to and is triggered when the onboard brain detects and serious change of direction.

Once the wearer has fallen the smart tech then starts monitoring how much movement is happening immediately after the accident. If there is no large movement from the wearer after three minutes the vest then tells the phone to call a pre-determined number with the jacket’s GPS location. A similar set-up in terms of the airbag deploying tech has been used by Bradley Smith throughout the 2016 MotoGP season.

“Thanks to the experience acquired over the last years, we’ve already developed an alpha version of the airbag for motorcycles users,” said Rémi Thomas, CEO of In&motion. “In the meantime, we’ve been working with several experts in order to endorse the proposed solution. However, as for our previous projects, we really want to integrate ideas, comments, or suggestions from our future users. The goal is to offer a product conceived for and by bikers.”

It sounds like a great idea. And In&motion is looking for 500 bikers around the world to help test the tech in the field. Yes, you could be one of the first on the globe to ride with a smart airbag vest. To find out more and to register yourself just click HERE.