- So I started biking recently and was hunting for helmets.
And turns out Virgina Tech does a bunch of helmet impact testing and maintains a ranking list https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/. The latest helmets have a releasable layer that absorbs (converts rotational energy?) more impact.
This HUD is pretty slick. In a way, it's more preventative (avoiding accidents) vs. reactive (absorbing impact in an accident) safety which sounds nice.
- No mention of a built in camera makes this a total non starter for me. If I'm going all in on an AI helmet it better be able to record front and back so my next of kin can get a payout from whatever pavement princess flattened me in the unprotected bike lane.
by SequoiaHope
4 subcomments
- To anyone who wants to ride more safely I cannot recommend enough this simple $20 mirror which I find so valuable that I buy extra and hand them out to friends and strangers to help keep them safer. A mirror mounted on your glasses or a similar mirror affixed to your helmet (close to your eyes and mounted on your head) allows for a large field of view that you can easily steer to see behind you.
I ride on the streets of Oakland every single day and situational awareness is critical. The single biggest thing you can do for safety is watch each car as it approaches behind you for its speed and trajectory. Anyone approaching too close or too fast is a bad sign and with a mirror you can more easily avoid them.
These are also available on Amazon and I am not in any way affiliated I just think they’re good life saving technology:
https://takealookactive.com/
- I'm not sure who this is for. It's a time trial style helmet, but isn't very useful for time trialing. And it's not a commuter helmet. And it's not a road riding helmet, as it has no breathability. Is this a defensive patent thing?
- Oh no I forgot to charge my helmet.
Also, helmets are meant to be replaced every couple of years as the materials deteriorate (UV/heat) and the protection dissipates.
As we like to say, dentist helmet.
by oflannabhra
0 subcomment
- While this is cool, I’m really surprised that eyeglass or sunglasses manufacturers haven’t doubled down on simple HUDs. In swimming there are the FORM goggles [0], but everything in the sunglasses space is focused on voice and cameras (looking at you Meta).
I really just want a basic, simple HUD that can display speed, distance, pace, HR from other sources. I don’t care about it being standalone, I already have a bike computer, phone, and watch.
- [0] - https://www.formswim.com/products/smart-swim-2-lt-goggles
by ethagnawl
2 subcomments
- I'm sure I'm just being a crotchety old graybeard but I ride my bikes to get away from this crap. I do use Strava to track my rides on my watch but I don't even look at it until the ride is over.
- > Its primary function – setting it apart from other eyewear data systems – is to provide instantly visible alerts about the behaviour other road users (e.g. such as brake light activation, *crash detection*, etc)
Just what I need, when a car nearby me crashes into a physical object, my vizor helmet is shouting "Bonzai!!!" with lighting bolts everywhere.
by KeplerBoy
5 subcomments
- Kind of surprising this stuff still is little more than a concept. 12 years after google launched and scrapped it's glasses there are still no well established alternatives for cycling, which is such an obvious market. Everyone is wearing glasses, everyone has a computer mounted to their handlebar, let's integrate them together already.
by Gualdrapo
1 subcomments
- The title is a bit confusing imho, it seems it fits more for time trialing rather than general road riding? I can't see no vents whatsoever, my incredibly sweaty noggin would soak tons of sweat into that thing
by airstrike
1 subcomments
- I feel like this would work better if it were cheap enough to serve Uber Eats delivery workers instead of pro riders.
by merelysounds
0 subcomment
- I wish they showed videos with a human model or the retractable mechanism.
At first glance the visor seems large enough to cover the face, but based on the HUD simulation I guess it only covers the eyes.
by blacksmith_tb
4 subcomments
- As someone who commutes in traffic daily, this is not what I need or want. First up, it looks heavy and badly-ventilated, and then there's the potential for distracting info blocking my view of the actual road in front of me. Even if it was really good info (which would take really good sensors, plus a lot of compute to cram onboard), I am skeptical it'd be better than, you know, paying attention to your surroundings. I like ADAS functionality in modern cars just fine, but it seems like a stretch to try and bring it to bikes. What we all could use is some kind of ad hoc network between all road users, so the car that was thinking about turning in front of me could ping my helmet / bike and understand that it should wait and turn behind me instead.
- There have been a few attempts at devices like this before such the Everysight Raptor and Garmin Varia Vision but none of them ever found mainstream adoption. In principle a HUD with navigation cues and key cycling metrics would be nice to have. But the devices have always had problems such as poor integration with bike computers or discomfort on long rides or incompatibility with prescription lenses or just looking goofy. Road cyclists aren't necessarily shy about wearing stupid looking kit but there are limits, and this new Canyon helmet looks like you're cosplaying as a stormtrooper.
by chollida1
2 subcomments
- I use a Garmin edge bike computer and a Garmin tail light with lidar that shows cars as they come up from behind on you on the computer screen and give audio alert as well.
That works well enough for most road riding. I wonder if having a reverse view mapped onto my glasses would be an improvement or take away from my focus.
- Hmmmmm, a visor? I suppose it'll get steamed up pretty easily when hillclimbing on a cold damp morning.
- There are a lot of new safety bike tech gadgets. It's difficult to spot nice ones, like MIPS helmets, from the useless.
Do my fellow hacker news readers recommend some useful tech for bikes?
by msandford
3 subcomments
- This really seems like a solution in search of a problem. Maybe it would be useful for pro tour riders, but I would guess it'll be banned as not in the spirit of cycle racing. Recumbents would really change the game in the pro tour for speed but the UCI doesn't allow them for the same reason.
- Smart ski googles have had this for a while.
by eff_kaufel
0 subcomment
- As a cyclist myself. I’m not sure I could wear something like this.
- HUD won't protect from a driver texting and running you over!
by contingencies
0 subcomment
- See also https://minimis.life/ which is an Aussie startup with a foot in California trying to do a cycling-focused AR smart glasses solution (ie. no helmet integration).
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by mgc_blackbox
0 subcomment
- [flagged]
- [dead]
by doctorpangloss
0 subcomment
- [dead]
- I didn't see anything in the press release about notifying riders that they're not a quantum superposition of vehicle and pedestrian that can collapse into whatever legal domain they feel is most convenient.
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