Swedish helmet and protective gear technology leader, POC, has developed a digital guardian function for their users.
In a partnership with technology start-up, twICEme, Poc wants to offer proven mountain rescue first-responder technology for mountain bikers.
The system works with an App and chip that stores vital medical data such as blood type, allergies, existing conditions and your organ donor status. This information is coded into a data which is part of the helmet.
If you have crash, first responders will then be able to scan the helmet using their own App and receive all the data to their phone. This system has proven invaluable in mountain rescue and empowers rescue teams to make the best possible decisions upon encountering an inured rider, who might not be able to communicate.
Realising that most severe mountain biker crashes occur in areas where there is little or no signal strength, the POC and twICEme system uses NFC (near field communication) to share information. This means that data or signal dead spots, in the bottom of a valley, are not an issue.
The use of NFC as a data sharing medium also reduces the possibility of any convergence issues between different apps and phone operating systems.
A primary advantage of this new POC/twICEme medical helmet data stowage is that is does not rely on proprietary software or digital satellite signalling to function. This makes it ideal for an activity such as mountain biking, where incidents have a high likelihood of happening in terrain and locations where data or phone signalling cannot penetrate.
POC is offering this new chip technology on its Tectal Race Spin and Ventral Air spin helmets. It will add $10-15 to the retail price but could perhaps become an industry standard helmet technology.
