Seattle start-up Vicis says its soon-to-be-launched football helmet will keep the brain far safer than any helmet available today.
Their motivation: the current focus on football and head injuries.
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Dave Marver says the Vicis helmet is designed to protect against both skull fracture and traumatic brain injury. Today's helmets are only designed to deal with the former but not the latter.
The more of an impact a helmet absorbs, the safer the palyer is.
“This is like we're dealing with an egg. Today's helmets protect the egg shell, keep it from cracking. But we also want to protect the egg yolk from sloshing around, like the brain,” said Marver.
There is so much proprietary technology in the helmet, Vicis uses a dazzle camouflage to wrap and hide all the unique features so competitors don't catch on.
Marver joined a renowned doctor on sports concussions at Seattle Children’s Hospital, who is also a University of Washington engineering professor, to launch Vicis.
The helmet "is designed differently," he says. "It's designed with multiple layers. It's designed to protect from both traumatic head injuries and skull fractures. And it functions differently. It has a novel outer shell material. ... It feels different. It sounds different."
The plan is for the helmet to go on the market in spring 2016 and be on the heads of NFL players next season.
The Vicis team has consulted with the Seattle Seahawks on the helmets.
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