Wearable airbags keep the elderly from hitting the ground so hard

Elderly? Enfeebled? Just plain clumsy? Tokyo-based Prop has your back. Its newly announced personal, wearable airbag looks like a cool fanny-pack and weighs a mere 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) -- but springs forth in one-tenth of a second when sensors detect you're headed for the floor, protecting your head and ass with two inflated bags that contain 3.9 gallons of gas each. Similar to the various airbag-equipped suits already used by some motorcyclists, the airbag is yours for a cool ¥148,000 ($1,400). Or you could just not fall down.

[Thanks, Steve]

[Artie Lange @ Sep 24th 2008 11:42PM]

I've fallen and I can't inflate my airbag.

[CraigJ @ Sep 24th 2008 11:49PM]

This was the first thing that popped into my head, but I think the deflating would be more of a problem.

+1

[Pumping_Iron @ Sep 25th 2008 2:24AM]

You fall down and it inflates and from that you start bouncing like a ball, more impact (quantity-wise), ill stick to normal gear....

[timmy @ Sep 25th 2008 9:35AM]

Paint it green, then say "Don't make me mad, you wont like me when I'm mad!!!" you can guess what to do next....


I'm thinking Halloween.

[JJV @ Sep 25th 2008 10:18AM]

What if you are jumping up?? will it detect a fall and deploy airbags?

OnStar is going to get a lot more popular with these things :p

[who? @ Sep 24th 2008 11:43PM]

Warning: Do not wear during rough sex.

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 11:44PM]

(Exceptions: Engadget readers may disregard this warning)

[Nick J @ Sep 25th 2008 12:19AM]

If it inflates in 1/10 of a second, the impact from the airbag would just add to it, Imho.

[who? @ Sep 25th 2008 12:28AM]

@Nick J

You call 1/10 of a second rough? Bah! Maybe if you were on the pavement...

[CraigJ @ Sep 24th 2008 11:50PM]

thanks for adding constructively to the conversation...

[phanbouy @ Sep 24th 2008 11:50PM]

congratulations

[computer.dude.28 @ Sep 24th 2008 11:52PM]

Alternate title:
Wearable airbags keep the intoxicated from hitting the ground so hard

[linuxamp @ Sep 24th 2008 11:55PM]

Like airlines life jackets, these come with manual inflate tubes in the event the gas charge is defective. Simply reach for the tube and blow while falling to the ground.

[lorddshadow @ Sep 25th 2008 12:56AM]

+1 for the Airplane reference

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Sep 25th 2008 3:35AM]

lorddshadow,

Sorry, but that was not an Airplane! reference. This comment by linuxamp merely made you think of the Airplane! scene where the lead actress inflates the autopilot by blowing on the tube at his belt, making it look like she's going down on an inflatable dummy.

Thanks for playing "Airplane! reference or not Airplane! reference," and we'll see you next week.

[Jesse S @ Sep 24th 2008 11:56PM]

As someone who has a grandmother with incredibly brittle bones, this could actually be a godsend. She fell once, and was in the hospital for 3 months. I don't think she could handle another fall.

The price is just way too much...I wonder if medicare will subsidize it.

[lorddshadow @ Sep 25th 2008 12:57AM]

dexter's lab ftw

[kevin @ Sep 25th 2008 12:52PM]

You think 3 months in the hospital and Nursing Home is cheaper than $1400? Think Again. Kevin

[EB @ Sep 24th 2008 11:57PM]

I thought Honda already had patents for wearable airbags for its motorcycle division ... Maybe I was wrong

[Ayman @ Sep 25th 2008 1:55AM]

Honda has an Airbag in it motorcycle but i do remember that there was an airbag in a jacket that protects you back when you fall off your bike... it might be honda....

[John @ Sep 25th 2008 12:05AM]

.....are they allowed to say 'ass' on the internet?

[who? @ Sep 25th 2008 12:17AM]

Just claim typo. That's what I do bigger. Whoops.

[DC @ Sep 25th 2008 12:05AM]

That extra weight will just make them fall that little bit faster..

[Bill @ Sep 25th 2008 12:08AM]

Yes, because we all know that is exactly how gravity works. Drop, say, a feather and a bowling ball from the tower of Pisa, and guess which on will hit the ground first? Yup, the Tower of Pisa. Astronauticles the Greek did that exact experiement.

[Reader @ Sep 25th 2008 12:23AM]

It's called impulse. Extends the time of the impulse, spreads out the force over that time... This is pretty much how everything that protects you works, from cars' crumple zones to bike helmets.

[Miguel @ Sep 25th 2008 12:37AM]

@Bill

The bowling ball will drop first. The fact that objects of varying size fall at the same rate is a statement about the constant of gravity. The feather may be lighter, but it also shaped in such a way as to increase drag and thus slow descent. Drop an 8 pound bowling ball and a 16 pound bowling ball from the Tower of Pisa, where the Cd of each object is identical to the other (both are, in theory, smooth spheres) and they will reach the ground at the same time. But a bowling ball and a feather? The bowling ball wins, not because of weight, but because of air resistance.

[Kizorblade @ Sep 25th 2008 4:35AM]

@Bill

1 million internetz for you.

[Vietnam Software Outsourcing @ Sep 25th 2008 12:07AM]

I am not sure about this

[webon @ Sep 25th 2008 12:39AM]

then don't use it

[rlynd3 @ Sep 25th 2008 1:38AM]

Gladice?! Is that you?.. Get back to your room!

[Jon Nelson @ Sep 25th 2008 12:24AM]

I see where you're coming from, but I'm not sure I fully make the connection..

Are you trying to say that the rabbits will indeed eat our faces when our plentiful supply of lettuce is gone? Or am I totally missing the point?

[absurdio @ Sep 25th 2008 1:32AM]

Ha. I voted you up.

...but I've only slept for two out of the last thirty-three hours.

[absurdio @ Sep 25th 2008 1:37AM]

What do you MEAN there isn't a video after the jump?!

[oZone @ Sep 25th 2008 1:52AM]

don't you mean after the fall?

[~Trail @ Sep 25th 2008 7:52AM]

I was kind of hoping to see this in action too. :(

[Blastar @ Oct 1st 2008 10:41AM]

Yea me too..
I really love videos with bike accidents, especially the ones in slow motion.
There is something so artistic about them that I can't describe with words...

[AL @ Sep 25th 2008 1:53AM]

There's got to be a use for that on some wacky Japanese game show. Here's an idea - you have to spin around for 5 minutes, and then you have to get to the other side of the room - if you fall down, the bags inflate, but then they burst on impact and you get some sort of icky stuff all over you.

[Benson @ Sep 25th 2008 3:19AM]

Hmmm... falling down and getting some sort of icky stuff all over you.

I think I know what sort of Japanese shows _you've_ been watching.

[frankXchange @ Sep 25th 2008 2:27AM]

Don't you just want to go into a crowded elevator and set one of these off? Or multiple airbags in a chain reaction. Or wear one in a fight. I imagine they'd also be excellent for bicyclists and divers, and loads of other applications.

[frankXchange @ Sep 25th 2008 2:32AM]

Wait, doesn't Acme already has this in their 'instant muscles' collection?

[*brotha @ Sep 25th 2008 2:51AM]

that looks awesome

i could use it for rollerblading

[jupiterthunder @ Sep 25th 2008 2:51AM]

In the event of a water landing your airbag can also be used as a flotation device.

[michas_pi @ Sep 25th 2008 3:36AM]

While I see this being put to good use, I'm going to file it away along with future robots that wipe your ass for you or lick your stamps.

Hmm, kind of like the robot servants in WALL-E?

[michas_pi @ Sep 25th 2008 3:36AM]

And yes, I know this isn't robotic.

[plympton @ Sep 25th 2008 3:51AM]

This is very cool - I'm glad the tech is finally at a point where it is cheap and reliable enough to deploy. We did this 15 years ago with off the shelf hardware and some custom electronics. Check it out:

http://www.plymptonia.com/airbag.html

-Dan

[Byron Jacob @ Sep 25th 2008 4:01AM]

There just trying to get fanny packs back into fashion!!
only people who use them are american holiday makers and stall market owners!
I wonder if i have mine in the loft???

[PiperSon @ Sep 25th 2008 7:52AM]

Teeheehee... he said "fanny"

[a_roast_chicken @ Sep 25th 2008 5:10AM]

Protect my head AND my ass?

Sign me up!

[rita hainsworth @ Sep 25th 2008 5:28AM]

yes, but who picks you up?

[EB @ Sep 25th 2008 10:05PM]

Oh yeah, because airbags are so darn heavy.