Three, two, one.
[SOUND]
This is what it feels like to have a personal airbag.
That was really, really sudden.
I feel like it really has constricted my movement.
Italian company Dainese built them into its motorcycle jackets.
And is now using the same technology, called d air, to protect Olympic downhill skiers.
One GPS, three accelerometers, three gyroscopes.
And they all talk together 1,000 times a second.
And once they all decide that there is an imminent crash, they send a signal.
To the cartridge that inflates the bag.
The ski version is being used by athletes like Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn and World Cup races from the US, Canada, Italy and Austria.
Downhill skiiers can get to 130 kilometers per hour to 140 kilometers per hour.
So the system activates at any speed though, if it's a fast crash, if it is a slow crash the system still goes off.
The airbag fits into a protective back plate that sits underneath the skier's spandex suit.
It adds 800 grams or around 1.7 ppounds of extra weight.
You know many times in downhill racing and skiing
You spend a lot of time in the air but those jumps, those are not crashes.
So the algorithm had to learn the difference between an imminent crash and just a big jump.
Protecting the torso, shoulders and back, the air bag inflates in 45 milliseconds, quicker thatn the blink of an eye.
In this slow motion video provided by the company the air bag deploys before the skier hits the ground.
I tried it in a motor cycle jacket to see how it feels.
It would have totally protect me if I was like rolling around or tumbling.
The DM motorcycle jacket cost around $1700 and the airbag can only be deployed once.
Replacement bags at $250 but the ski version is not available for sale yet to the public.
Damesa is also working on an air bag system for the elderly that could prevent injuries from falls.
In San Francisco, Lexy Savvides with CNET for CBS News.
[NOISE]
