What Makes a Helmet “Smart?”

Combat helmets are getting smarter. And the best is yet to come.
 
Team Wendy helmets currently interface with state-of-the-art night vision goggles capable of spotting unsuspecting enemies in blackout conditions. They’re compatible with communications systems boasting “3D audio” so a soldier can better determine where sounds come from.
 
They’re equipped with a rail system built to handle the military’s emerging interests in augmented reality and desires to incorporate a heads up display showing anything from heart rate information to blood oxygen levels.
 
It was unfathomable 15 years ago that tactical helmets could be kitted out with those features. But research is being conducted as we speak to take “smart helmets” to the next level.
 
Team Wendy is part of the PANTHER Program, an Avengers-like group of scientists and engineers from across the country focused on better understanding how the brain reacts to explosions and all types of head injuries. Led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we publicly presented our research for the first time last year.
 
We aim to make smart helmets even smarter. For instance, what if the foam inside a combat helmet could instantaneously recognize – and brace for – an explosion? Ideally, the foam in a ballistic helmet would stiffen when a high-energy impact is detected and soften when confronted with a low-energy impact.
 
Contemporary research suggests this may be possible, but challenges remain in achieving the sub-millisecond responses necessary to adapt to impacts in real time. Establishing a basic scientific understanding of the physics involved and material responses required to mitigate brain injury is the first step. This type of research will open the door for technology to play an even more pivotal role inside tactical helmets. And the options are nearly endless.
 
Detailed information could be beamed live back to command. Or it could be stored as health data to share with medics upon a return from the field. Different branches and units will undeniably have unique uses and needs. Custom designs are almost a certainty.
 
Helmets are smart now, but a new era is already on the way. The era may well be crystalized by military helmets predicting and preventing injuries. That will really underscore what “smart helmets” can do.
 
By Ron Szalkowski
Director of Product Development and Research Collaboration