I just found this item on Sky News. It is a product called D3o that is soft and flexible – until it is hit. On impact, it becomes quite rigid and is being incorporated into protective gear for snow sports already. It is also undergoing testing by American police for possible use in riot equipment.
A revolutionary new foam has been developed which its makers claim can protect people from pain and injury when they hit something at speed – or when something hits them.
Bikers, cyclists, snowboarders and skiers could benefit from wearing suits and helmets containing D3O, and riot police in the US are putting it through its paces.
When I went to see its inventor, Richard Palmer, he said he was so confident of its miraculous properties that he would put some of it into his beanie hat and let me smash him over the head with a shovel.
He assured me it would not hurt, no matter how hard I whacked him.
When I hit him the first time, I was reluctant to put much effort into it fearing he would collapse and pass out. No reaction.
I swung the shovel over my head and hit him harder. Still no reaction!
They have video as well. They take a few good whacks at knees and the head with a shovel and no reaction at all. It only works where the skin is thin over bone, it will not work to protect soft tissue. But then, most impact damage from a fall is to things like knees and head. Here's the D3o Labs website and here is a Wikipedia entry on it. Technovelgy has covered it as well. This is some pretty neat stuff.
Wonder if it has a future in football?
I would think so.
I want a pair of gloves. Bwahahahaha.
Naw, that stuff has been around for decades. It has appeared in countless science fiction stories.
Flexsteel!