BASF Helmet

Conceptualizing the future of rider safety | BASF Helmet – Dune

The Focus 

  • BASF and Vega Helmets India partnered with Team Elephant to develop a concept helmet  

  • Helmet to be suited for Indian and South Asian conditions, while having a futuristic edge 

  • Desired the extensive use of new, innovative materials that BASF would provide  

The Design 

  • Elephant team engaged in intensive user research, recognizing and defining road and related safety concerns in India and South Asia  

  • Benchmarked features in three priorities titled ‘Smart’ (for tech), ‘Comfort’ and ‘Safety’, meeting or exceeding them during the development stage 

  • Ultimately developed a modular, techno-futuristic helmet that tackles several user concerns and Indian road conditions alike with the help of ingenious engineering and advanced material science   

The Story

More people are riding motorcycles. And bikes. And other two wheelers. At least, this is true of the more developing climes within South Asia and particularly, India.

Motorcycle usage spiked during the pandemic with an increased focus on hyperlocal home deliveries that added to the ever-increasing roster of riders and delivery partners. The public transportation system also underwent a shift, with people wanting more personalized forms of travel. Commuters were avoiding public transport and motorbikes proved to be an affordable, easily accessible alternative. Yet other contributing factors include, but are not limited to: shifting climatic conditions, the rise of weekend getaways, the nostalgia associated with biking-road trips and more.

The experience of riding a bike differs from country to country, city to city – and sometimes, even street to street. This is especially relevant to India, given its sheer diversity in terms of climate and driving habits/patterns. Scattered patterns of infrastructural development and a lack of standardization contribute to the complexity of India’s already complex transportation ecosystem.

Naturally, road safety is a huge concern with these conditions and one of the most prevalent safety measures comes in the form of the humble yet effective helmet. Our clients, BASF and Vega Helmets India wanted to develop a helmet that would be uniquely suited to address Indian conditions, while announcing the future of helmets via the use of innovative materials and design. To that end, the team at Elephant worked on a product concept by defining the structure, function and materials involved to enable further development.

Road Safety and Helmets

What are the realities of Indian roads? Predominantly, India has a tropical climate that goes into both: the humid and dry conditions. There are arid strips, coastal areas, icy peaks, and huge variations in temperature from season to season. Urban climes also experience a lot of dust, smog, and other perils due to haphazard development via construction, unchecked industrial emissions, vehicular pollution and more. 

The next set of challenges are socio-economic in nature. India unflatteringly tops the world with 4.5 lakh road crashes per year, where we see 1.5 lakh fatalities. Poor road literacy combined with problematic infrastructure like the lack of proper signages, lack of acceptance of heavier & “pressure cooker” helmets and generally hazardous road-engineering practices all contribute to create a highly volatile environment.   

Given these realities, do modern helmets remedy some, if any of these problems? Unfortunately, not. Unbranded helmets are flooding the market because many manufacturers haven’t hit the sweet spot between good pricing and quality. This, apart from a compromising attitude towards road safety, leads people to opt for low-cost helmets made up of poor-quality Poly-fibers and low-grade fiberglass. In many cases, these do more harm than good. Heavy shell weight, poor airflow in hot & humid conditions, lack of storage facilities, all contribute to low compliance towards helmet acceptance. 

But what about legitimate helmets? These have their own share of issues. Most riders cite extreme discomfort with no provisions for dust, dirt and sweat; apart from not having adequate airflow to mitigate elevated temperatures. Weight is another big concern – most helmets don’t feature overtly lightweight materials since its mostly a compromise between toughness and weight.  

Our Product Design team, hence, had a delicate challenge in front of us: How do we develop a helmet that’s light and remedies existing issues with comfort + airflow, while also possessing a futuristic design, replete with new-age features? Titled ‘Dune’, this is definitively the sleekest – yet the most rider-focused helmet; an ergonomically sound solution to the challenges faced.  

Our PD team, hence, had a pretty delicate challenge in front of us: How do we develop a helmet that’s light, remedies existing issues with comfort + airflow, while also possessing a futuristic design, replete with new-age features? Titled ‘Dune’, this is definitively the sleekest – yet the most ergonomically sound answer.

Dune and Dusted

With ‘Dune’, our team worked with BASF-supplied materials and crafted an elegant solution. The team addressed the most pertinent challenges with motorbike and road safety by distributing the solution into three attributes, namely: Safety, Smart and Style.

Safety & Comfort

The ‘Safety’ aspect takes care of most issues to do with impact-based safety and related comfort. We applied BASF-developed innovative materials like reverse Infinergy, which is a patented foam. This has a high shock-absorption to thickness ratio, where the helmet can be lightweight yet reinforced at the same time. This reduced the weight and size of the outer shell. The helmet does not put undue stress on the rider’s head, neck, and shoulders. The inner layer is a mesh-like lattice structure that is supplemented by foam, covering all critical safety areas.  

This treatment allows for a modular approach, which makes room for more airflow and ventilation. Air filters present at air entry points add a completely new dimension to existing features. Of note is the fresh air circulation detail that’s built within the inner shell. The front vents allow for seamless flow and circulate air within these channels, dispersing it evenly.     

The visor is resistant to Fog, Scratch, UV and light flares which helps maintain optimal visibility at all times. Cheek pads and other linings are antibacterial in nature, making it more hygienic. The helmet is also equipped with a carabiner hook for easy storage, while having quick-access, fault-proof chinstraps.  

Smart & Style

The ‘smart’ feature caters to practices that incorporate several techno-futuristic trends. The helmet boasts of a sleek and minimalistic structure with a cyberpunk aesthetic which we refer to as the ‘Mask’ design route. Streaks of rear-end safety lights, a tinted hi-gloss chin cover, removable air filters, and an inner dust cover with provisions for integrated audio and communications systems – all come together to create a helmet that’s truly future-proof. The carabiner hook takes centre stage at the rear with its defining, circular ring-like inlay. The helmet also allows for flexible customization options. The light, rippling, sandy features on the helmet give it its name: Dune, which coincidentally is yet another sci-fi reference that pays homage to the fan-favourite franchise. 

When presented to Vega India, the Dune helmet retained most of its conceptual features, which was a definite win for the team. Translating ideas into realities may not always have the highest success rate – but with the clients taking it up for further testing and prototyping, we had no doubt in our concept and are excited to see it materialize on our roads soon. Safe rides!