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GM has developed an airbag that inflates from between the front two seats. It’s designed to protect the driver and passenger during side impacts which may drive them into each other, or onto the far side of the car. At the link, you can watch a slow-motion video of one inflating with a crash test dummy.
The future is not entirely unknowable. There are ways to predict what is coming using semi-scientific techniques such as scenario scripting and trend “trigger” analysis. Often, projections can be made by extrapolating from current trends. Indeed, trend trackers and futurists make a living describing what is coming. But there are also the psychics, village idiots, witches, trance channelers, sensitives and scryers who sometimes through effort or by accident tap into what the future holds. Science fiction writers, especially the best ones like Jules Verne or Arthur C. Clarke, have been able to see trends far enough ahead to describe what is coming. And there are inventors, tinkerers, designers and cartoonists who also try to tap into the same “web” of thought that mysteriously spans past, present and future and who in some instances come up with astounding images of future trends and products. (Image source: Blackberry Planet)
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A research team in Hiroshima, Japan is developing airbags that deploy outside, rather than inside, the car. Their goal is to protect pedestrians who are involved in a crash:
Dubbed iSAVE (sigh…), the airbags deflate rapidly upon impact, just like conventional airbags, to soften the effects of a crash for pedestrians. The prototype car equipped with iSAVE that you can see on the pic above was shown earlier this week and is said to be the first of its kind. iSAVE can be used with electric cars only.
The research team behind the airbags says it expects to sell up to 50 units by year end for 3-wheeled cars before fully commercializing them in 2011 for four-wheeled vehicles. The iSAVE system for 4-wheeled cars will likely be priced at $17,800.
Link (in Japanese) via CrunchGear via DVICE | Photo: Asahi
Ford is developing a seat belt that inflates when the car detects a crash. In The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Dolan writes:
Its inflatable rear seat belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts, said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of sustainability, environmental and safety engineering
Each belt’s tubular air bag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat. The inflatable belt’s accordion-folded bag breaks through the belt fabric as it fills with gas, expanding sideways across the occupant’s body. It looks something like a water wing children wear in the pool before they know how to swim.
Link via Popular Science
