Bicycle helmet made of paper wins Dyson award

A disposable bike helmet made of paper has won James Dyson's international inventors' competition.

The unlikely sounding product, designed by 29-year-old Isis Shiffer, offers an inexpensive option for users of city bike-share schemes who want to ride with protective headgear.

The foldable EcoHelmet is constructed out of waterproofed recycled paper in a honeycomb pattern, which Shiffer says is effective at absorbing impact. She claims the recyclable headgear can soften blows from any direction as effectively as a traditional polystyrene-based helmet, reports The Times.

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Shiffer, a graduate of the Pratt Institute in New York who describes herself as a "compulsive tinkerer", came up with the idea while studying in London and Tokyo.

"I do all my exploring by bike but I don't like riding in those cities without a helmet," she said. "I wondered why there was no inexpensive option for people who want to use a bike-share scheme."

The James Dyson Award runs in 22 countries. As the winner, Shiffer will receive £30,000 from Dyson to develop her design further. She said: "I was astonished to win. I have an art background, so the engineering I do tends to be intuitive and then I fill in the gaps by reading a lot of books."

She hopes to sell her invention from vending machines at bike-share stations for $5 per helmet.

A study of 64,000 cyclists conducted by the University of New South Wales found that wearing a helmet could reduce the risk of serious head injuries by almost 70 per cent.