In 1995, the Swedish brain surgeon Hans von Holst from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm began to explore how helmets in general were constructed based on the belief that the inferior protection helmets offered led to consequences for too many people who had suffered head trauma wearing helmets. Hans von Holst contacted the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm in order to initiate biomechanical research on head and neck injury prevention. As a result, student Peter Halldin initiated his PhD on head and neck injury biomechanics, being the first PhD within this field. Peter Halldin initiated the work from a technical perspective, with assistance from Hans von Holst and his clinical background, with the goal of understanding the complete picture from accident to potential injury.
During the initial years of research, Peter Halldin and Hans von Holst also analyzed the need for a system that reduced the rotational acceleration to the brain. In 1996, Hans von Holst and Peter Halldin came together up with the idea of the Mips technology, mimicking the brain’s own protection system. The first prototype of a Mips safety system equipped helmet was tested at the University of Birmingham in 2000 and resulted in the first scientific publication in 2001, showing that Mips safety system significantly could reduce the rotational acceleration.