AWARD YEAR
2017
CATEGORY
Play & Learning
GOALS
Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
KEYWORDS
concussion, personal safety, sports
COUNTRY
United States of America
DESIGNED BY
Berto Garcia
WEBSITE
http://www.popsci.com/inspired-by-woodpeckers-this-helmet-could-save-football-players-from-concussions
Woodpecker
A football helmet that reduces concussions.
High school football players don’t have it easy. A report from 2013 states that they’re twice as likely to sustain a concussion than college players, and often these injuries go unreported, mostly because high schoolers would rather play through a game.
Rams and woodpeckers have stabilizer muscles in their necks that help reduce whiplash. Humans, unfortunately, aren’t built with these stabilizer muscles, and, to add insult to injury, the studies around concussions and their relation to depression, suicidal thoughts, and neurodegenerative brain diseases in retired football players continue to grow.
The woodpecker stabilizer could reduce whiplash from 16 inches of motion to just 4 or 5.