All major innovations come from a conviction that it is possible to improve something. In this case life.

It was in 1997 that Swedish neurosurgeon Hans von Holst started wondering about how helmets were generally constructed. He had worked on skull injuries for the WHO in Geneva for five years and realised that the protection against brain damage was not good enough. The helmet's lack of correct protection had devastating consequences for many people.

Hans von Holst contacted Peter Halldin, researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology, with a view to them trying to develop a technology that could provide more effective protection. The idea was to look more closely at the head's anatomy and physiology and copy the body's own protection system.

Their sights were set on better protection against the type of blow to the brain that produces the most severe injuries - rotational acceleration. This force is caused by an oblique impact with the ground, in other words exactly what happens in a real-life accident.

This called into question the most basic assumptions on which helmet development and testing had been based all these years - and not least how helmet regulations had been formulated. The focus had always been on providing protection against vertical impact with the ground.

In other words, helmets had been designed, tested and approved based on a principle at odds with the reality of accidents on the road.

Together, Peter Halldin and Hans von Holst developed a technology that involved building in a cushion or friction layer which would provide unique and much improved protection for the brain, whether the helmet was for a horserider, motorcyclist or other user.

Out of this work came the name MIPS, an abbreviation of the innovative concept and function: Multi-directional Impact Protection System.