One of the most unusual wearables at CES 2016 was from a French company Inemotion. Inemotion invented a ski vest that contains an airbag, Packed with sensors, this device detects that a skier is falling and deploys an airbag to soften the impact of a fall; all in less than 100 milliseconds. With a focus on the competitive professional ski market, the sensors also communicate performance data to an app, allowing the skier to hone her skills.

As Valentin Honore alludes to in the above video, the competitive ski market is just the one of what could be multiple applications for this technology, such as protecting a motorcyclist from the impact of an accident or helping prevent injuries to elderly people from falls. This latter market is a huge opportunity, as the National Council on Aging estimates the cost to the economy of $34B from the 2.5M elderly people who receive emergency room treatment each year; and this number is estimated to grow to $67.7B by 2020. With this kind of market, it is not a leap to imagine a baby boomer, airbag wearable in the not-too-distant future.