Wednesday, February 17, 2016

New Helmet Design

We came cross this recently, and thought it might be a good thing to share now that the season is over. It’s the VICIS ZERO1 — a new football helmet design which might be a promising option for the future. Even with better cushioning, the issues of reducing blows to the head must be of prime importance to the league, if the game is to survive.






VICIS ENGINEERS AND NEUROSURGEONS HAVE DEVELOPED A MULTILAYERED, HIGHLY-ENGINEERED HELMET DESIGN THAT MITIGATES LINEAR AND ROTATIONAL IMPACT FORCES

THE LODE SHELL™
Absorbs impact load by locally deforming, like a car bumper. Automotive safety engineers have used local deformation to protect people for decades. We’re the first to bring this proven innovation to football helmets.

THE CORE LAYER™
Employs a highly-engineered columnar structure that moves omni-directionally to reduce linear and rotational forces. The columnar geometry used in our CORE Layer is based on principles first described by Leonhard Euler, a Swiss physicist in the 1700s.

The LODE Shell and CORE Layer work together to reduce impact forces, leveraging well established engineering principles and materials long-used in stringent aerospace and automotive applications. Tested to withstand multiple seasons of play, the VICIS ZERO1 delivers 21st century innovation built on bedrock scientific principles.

THE VICIS AXIS FIT SYSTEM™
A great fitting helmet is critical to comfort and safety. The current standard is to measure head circumference, but that approach has serious limitations. Consider two rooms with a circumference of 100’. While the rooms share the same circumference, they have markedly different dimensions: One measures 10’ x 40’ while the other measures 25’ x 25’. Human head anatomy is also variable; the same circumference could yield scores of different head lengths and breadths. Traditional sizing approaches do not account for these differences.

The VICIS AXIS Fit System incorporates head length and breadth measurements to determine a player’s optimal helmet size. Informed by detailed head measurements of hundreds of current and former NFL and NCAA football players, the AXIS Fit System provides an anatomically correct fit based on the unique head shapes of elite athletes. The ZERO1 offers 12 different sizing combinations, eliminating the need for shims and air bladders, taking comfort and safety to a new level.

After determining the player’s optimal helmet size with the AXIS Fit System, the ZERO1’s two innermost layers provide additional protection and exceptional fit and comfort:

THE ARCH SHELL™
The AXIS Fit System determines the relationship between head length and breadth measurements (commonly called an “aspect ratio”) for a player and facilitates selection of an appropriately sized ARCH Shell. There are 3 different ARCH Shells available, providing outstanding fit and additional protection.

THE FORM LINER™
The FORM Liner is designed to work in unison with the ARCH Shell. Constructed of special foams and waterproof textiles, the FORM Liner conforms to the player’s unique head topography and distributes pressure uniformly around the head. There are 4 different FORM Liners available to enable unparalleled comfort and precise fit. 

And here’s a mock-up of how it would look with Green Bay’s colors. The larger face mask could present issues with the helmet logo, but we’re sure they could figure out a solution.