Protective headgear for use in dangerous and/or hazardous locations may comprise: a headgear shell; a locator device on the headgear shell for providing location data; a motion sensor on the headgear shell for providing motion data; a memory on the headgear shell and having a unique identifier stored therein and configured to store the location data and the motion data; a transmitter-receiver for transmitting the location data, the motion data and the unique identifier to a remote database and for receiving notification data therefrom; and a user interface responsive to the received notification data to provide a visual notification or an audible notification or a physical notification or a combination thereof.

Protective headgear for use in dangerous and/or hazardous locations may comprise: a headgear shell; a locator device on the headgear shell for providing location data; a motion sensor on the headgear shell for providing motion data; a memory on the headgear shell and having a unique identifier stored therein and configured to store the location data and the motion data; a transmitter-receiver for transmitting the location data, the motion data and the unique identifier to a remote database and for receiving notification data therefrom; and a user interface responsive to the received notification data to provide a visual notification or an audible notification or a physical notification or a combination thereof.

The present invention relates to a hard hat, comprising: a rigid outer shell, a vibration transducer secured to the exterior of the rigid outer shell, the vibration transducer operative to vibrate the rigid outer shell when active; and a control system coupled to the hard hat, the control system further operably coupled to the vibration transducer such that the control system controls vibration of the vibration transducer. The control system converts received audio communication into a signal sent to the vibration transducer such that activation of the vibration transducer results in vibration of the rigid outer shell, with the rigid outer shell thereby acting as a harmonic resonance acoustic chamber replicating the received audio communication. A kit for converting a hard hat and a method of communication are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a hard hat, comprising: a rigid outer shell, a vibration transducer secured to the exterior of the rigid outer shell, the vibration transducer operative to vibrate the rigid outer shell when active; and a control system coupled to the hard hat, the control system further operably coupled to the vibration transducer such that the control system controls vibration of the vibration transducer. The control system converts received audio communication into a signal sent to the vibration transducer such that activation of the vibration transducer results in vibration of the rigid outer shell, with the rigid outer shell thereby acting as a harmonic resonance acoustic chamber replicating the received audio communication. A kit for converting a hard hat and a method of communication are also disclosed.

A head-worn system has one or more illumination, imaging, communication, and/or other controlled elements electrically connected to a switch element (e.g., a piezo switch) positioned on the head-worn system so as to be overlying an area of a wearer's masseter muscle when worn on the wearer's person. The switch element is configured to be activated responsive to clenching of the wearer's jaw. The one or more controlled elements may be arranged to provide directional lighting/imaging from the point of view of the wearer, for example from the area of the wearer's zygomatic bones, when the head-worn system is worn on the wearer's person.

A multi-configurable headset support apparatus is provided, having at least one earcup having front-facing and rear-facing posts. First and second suspension wires and a helmet mount are each provided with loops at opposite ends that are attachable to the earcup posts. A support band is securable to the suspension wires. When the first suspension wire is attached to the posts and the support band is secured to the first suspension wire, the support band is attached in an upward configuration atop a wearer's head. When the second suspension wire is attached to the posts and the support band is secured to the second suspension wire, the support band is attached in a rearward configuration on the back of the wearer's head. The posts are preferably retractably spring-biased into the earcup; the spring force secures the loop disposed on the post shaft against the earcup via the post head.

A multi-configurable headset support apparatus is provided, having at least one earcup having front-facing and rear-facing posts. First and second suspension wires and a helmet mount are each provided with loops at opposite ends that are attachable to the earcup posts. A support band is securable to the suspension wires. When the first suspension wire is attached to the posts and the support band is secured to the first suspension wire, the support band is attached in an upward configuration atop a wearer's head. When the second suspension wire is attached to the posts and the support band is secured to the second suspension wire, the support band is attached in a rearward configuration on the back of the wearer's head. The posts are preferably retractably spring-biased into the earcup; the spring force secures the loop disposed on the post shaft against the earcup via the post head.

The inventive Invisible Face Mask apparatus comprises a headgear or headwear such as a cap, helmet, strap or a visor, which is equipped with an air purifying mechanism, such as an air filter, that filters ambient air, and an air blower which generates an airflow pushing the purified air in a downward direction in front of and adjacent to the user's face.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to carry out a method. The method comprises obtaining sensor data indicative of a parameter sensed by a sensor associated with an article of sports equipment; obtaining position data indicative of a spatial position of the sensor or of the article of sports equipment; jointly processing the sensor data and the position data to derive a hybrid metric; and outputting a signal conveying the hybrid metric on a network or storing the hybrid metric in a computer-readable memory. The sensor data and the position data may be time-aligned to a common time reference, so that the jointly processing is carried out on the time-aligned sensor data and position data. The hybrid metric measures properties that are not derivable from the sensor data alone or the position data alone.

A near field communications (NFC) enabled buckle for helmet and method of using the same are disclosed. A first coupling end and a second coupling end are configured for releasable cooperative joining of the ends. An NFC chip is carried by one of the first coupling end and the second coupling end. The NFC chip is configured to couple to an NFC enabled communications device. The user may register the NFC chip with a tracking and alert system. An app allows the user to program the NFC chip with one or more of identification data, medical data, and emergency notification data. In the event the rider is involved in an accident, a first responder may read the data on the NFC chip and use the encoded data to render assistance. An app allows user activation of an SOS by tapping their NFC enabled communications device on the NFC enabled buckle.