[Ironballs]

Ah. So nice when science fiction actually happens.

“She lets go of the handle and goes into free fall.

At the same time, she jerks the manual release on her cervical collar and goes into full Michelin Man mode as tiny gas cartridges detonate in several strategic locations around her bod. The biggest one goes off like an M-80 at the nape of her neck, unfurling the coverall's collar into a cylindrical gasbag that shoots straight up and encases her entire head. Other airbags go off around her torso and pelvis, paying lots of attention to that spinal column.”

-- Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

[ZoFreX]

That sounds a lot more similar to the airbag vests used in motorbike racing than the Hovding. Of course, in both the ones that actually exist, activation is automatic and not manual!

[lcedp]

Manual activation doesn't imply no automatic activation.