Personal airbag

I don't know why I thought of my husband as soon as I saw the OP title!

Perhaps I was thinking of windbag.

Not such a daft idea - so many elderly used to come into hospital where I worked and a fall and fractured femur did indeed represent the end. My father and his mother fall into that category.

I suppose it depends whether you just want to take your chance or would like to try and prevent a fracture.

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

That's not a bad idea.

The diagram shows that the airbag should spring out around the hips to protect them, but I don't understand how it will be triggered in time to prevent injury to the hips.
I expected that the video would show someone falling over, to demonstrate the belt in practice, but that didn't happen.

I think this is an idea well worth developing. Many people riding motor bikes and horses now routinely wear inflatable body protectors. My DD took a nasty fall from a horse at a fixed fence last summer- her body protector duly inflated and, although she had fallen heavily against the edge of some unforgiving boarded steps, she didn't even have a bruise afterwards. As Mishap says, sadly falls are often 'the beginning of the end' for older people who have previously been pretty independent at home.

Maybe when I am a bit more doddery. And past caring about my appearance.

I agree Far North - I was waiting for the video to show what triggers the inflation and how it would be sufficiently inflated before the person hits the ground. Could it be triggered by line dancing for instance!

Mishap, that was my feeling too. How would it sense a fall until the impact? If they cost the same as a car air-bag to re-set, I can't see the practicality if they were over-sensitive. I hadn't heard of the body protectors mentioned by HBoss, so perhaps the technology is already there.

I have now looked at the riding body protectors. They are attached to the saddle by a lanyard which triggers inflation when pulled away, well before impact. Not the technology required for the item we are discussing.

I suppose it could be useful, if it works, to those at particular risk of falls.

But the fact that they don't show it in action, and this extract from the blurb says it all

Wolk is still in development and the team is hoping to continue research and create a fully-functional product in 2015.