Who: Aexos and Canadian halfpipe snowboard champion Derek Livingston

What: A one-year sponsorship deal that will see Livingston wearing Aexos’ Halo product.

What’s a Halo? It’s a designed-in-Canada product intended to reduce the massive problem of concussions in sports. More specifically, it’s a shirt that minimizes the effects of whiplash on the brain.

The numbers: According to a 2014 study, head injuries comprise an “important and common burden” for both skiers and snowboarders, accounting for 20% of the estimated 600,000 ski and snowboarding-related injuries in North America each year. The study found that snowboarders have a 50% higher rate of head and neck injury than skiers. Overall, 22% of head injuries are severe enough to cause loss of consciousness or clinical signs of concussion.

How does a shirt reduce whiplash? Halo is a compression shirt with a collar that “momentarily stiffens” during a high-impact moment that could cause whiplash. The technology is actually the material itself: flexible enough to allow a full range of motion, but rigid enough at point of impact to improve neck stability—that means less instances of the brain rattling around inside the skull.

Anyone can buy one? As of a couple of weeks ago, yes. Deliveries to Kickstarter supporters and early clients started a couple of weeks ago, and shirts are on sale now at Aexos.ca.

Any marketing? Not beyond the sponsorship and PR around Livingston wearing the Halo at major halfpipe events.