New Motorcycle Helmet Tech: Welcome To The Future
We've come a long way in head protection since the
first "motorcycle helmet" was created nearly 100 years ago by Dr.
Eric Gardner. That rudimentary helmet was crafted out of canvas and
covered in shellac to help withstand hard blows to the head. As
motorcycles got faster and manufacturing processes and materials
evolved, so did the motorcycle helmet. These days they made of
super-lightweight and strong materials such as carbon fiber,
feature strict safety and testing standards, and are available in a
myriad of shell shapes and styles shapes from full face helmets,
half helmets, and modular helmets to ¾ helmets and beanie-style.
Along with improved safety features, motorcycle helmets are
evolving with highly practical convenience features as well like
Bluetooth connectivity to connect to smart phones for hands free
calling and music streaming and integrated sun shields that deploy
or retract in an instant.
Who knows where motorcycle helmet
technology will take us in the next 20 years or even the next two
years (seeing how fast new technology seems to be emerging) for
that matter. But for now we've scoped the Internet to bring you
some new motorcycle helmets and gadgetry that is already available
or soon to be at our fingertips.
Heads up Display, or HUD for short, is exactly what we saw in old
movies and TV shows like Terminator and Air Wolf when
information would pop up on the character's eyewear/face shield.
With a HUD incorporated into a motorcycle helmet data is displayed
across a transparent screen that allows the user to read pertinent
information without having to look away at another screen, their
handlebar-mounted [mageProductLink sku="391-0010"
title=""]GPS[/mageProductLink], or motorcycle gauges. Heads up
display technology was originally developed for military pilots and
has slowly been integrated into other industries and is by far the
most exciting technology to be geared towards motorcycle
helmets.
Skully
It seems it's been well
over a year or more since we first heard of Skully and its promise
to deliver HUD helmets to the motorcycle industry. As of this
writing the latest info states Skully just finished a
record-breaking pre-order campaign for the Skully AR-1 helmet on
Indiegogo, raising an astonishing $250,000 in in under eight
minutes, helping push their funding to more than $2.8 million. So
obviously the demand is there from customers, now it's just a
matter of units arriving to market. Projected delivery is sometime
in the spring of 2105.
Billing itself as "The Worlds Smartest Helmet," the Skully AR-1
full face helmet is outfitted with a rear facing camera that
projects a 180 degree view of what's going on behind the rider in a
perceptual distance of 10 feet in front of the rider.
The display can be seen by looking through the
lower right side corner of the face shield. In addition to
providing a rearward view, the display will also provide
audio/visual turn-by-turn GPS directions, Bluetooth connectivity to
your smart phone for making/receiving phone calls and streaming
music, and an E-tint windshield that quickly changes from clear to
tinted with the push of a button. The software behind the helmet
technology will offer over-the-air updates enabling users to stay
up to speed with the newest features from the Skully team. At the
2014 EICMA show Skully and Aprilia exhibited the helmet's ability
to connect rider to bike by offering insight into the mechanics of
the motorcycles' performance displaying information such as vehicle
speed, engine speed, gear position, fuel consumption, and more.
Nuviz
Unlike Skully which is an
all-in-one HUD helmet design, the creators of Nuviz are striving to
deliver HUD technology to a wide range of riders at a more
affordable price by allowing them to incorporate the stand alone
Nuviz Ride: HUD system to any full face helmet. The Ride:HUD unit
is similar to the helmet cameras and audio systems many riders are
familiar with in the way that it simply mounts to the outside of
the helmet with a mount that has a very strong adhesive film. The
mounting system allows the rider to quickly and easily install or
remove the Ride:HUD as needed. The Ride:HUD projects a small
display in the lower right corner of the wearer's field of view and
provides everything from navigation, weather, and incoming/outgoing
calls, to music and motorcycle telemetry.
While the Ride:HUD doesn't have a rear view camera it
does have a forward-facing H-D camera capable of recording
1080P/30fps video and snapping 8mb pictures. When combined with the
Nuviz Ride:Cloud app users can control which information they want
displayed and upload/ share their videos, maps, photos, and much
more. The system works with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and the rider has
all the controls and functions at his/her finger tips via a
Bluetooth control module that mounts to the motorcycle handlebars.
The developers are currently working to get CAN-to-Bluetooth and
J1850-to-Bluetooth compatibility with a variety of motorcycle
manufacturers so that their device will be able to provide riders
with a host of on bike information no matter what motorcycle they
are riding. The Ride:Hud system and Ride:Cloud app will work with
iOS and Android based devices and while the unit can only be
mounted on full face (will work with modular helmets), Nuviz is
working on compatibility with other types of helmets as well.
According to their Kickstarter, units were supposed to start
shipping back in September of this year but a check of their
Facebook page looks like early backers are still waiting on their
units to arrive.
If you are easily distracted or feel you'd be overwhelmed with the
wealth of information that can be provided by a HUD smart helmet,
but still wan the safety and convenience of quickly knowing what's
going on behind you, then a rear view system integrated into a
motorcycle helmet may be just what you're looking for.
Reevu
Reevu has been
around for quite some time but didn't finally start offering its
rear view helmets until a couple years ago. At the back of the
helmet is a reflective polycarbonate plate which is part of the
patented Reevu Vision system that bends light around the inside of
the outer casing of the helmet to a small mirror mounted in the
middle of the upper eye port. The view is displayed in the mirror
across the top of the helmet's eye port similar to a rearview
mirror you would find in an automobile. The Reevu helmet not only
helps eliminate blind spots but is also very useful when sitting at
a stop sign/stop light or waiting in traffic by allowing the user
to see if a vehicle is approaching too quickly and therefore allow
them to maneuver out of the way rather than getting rear ended.
Now we know what you are thinking, "what about
when you ride with a passenger, doesn't the passenger's helmet
block the mirror system?" We thought the same thing, but then
realized that most of the time passengers don't like staring into
the back of the rider's head so they will typically lean their head
slightly to the left or right to peer over the rider's shoulder. To
help reduce the sun and headlights glaring onto the back of the
system and affecting the riders view there are a series of
reflective surfaces that limit the intensity of light hitting the
front reflective surface. The rear mirror system also has a tinted
rear visor which helps reduce sun and headlight glare. Reevu
currently offers one helmet, the RV MSX1 in a variety of size
ranges and the helmets are DOT and ECE approved.
Protecting your eyes while on a motorcycle is priority number one.
If you can't see where you are going you won't get far! But there's
more to eye protection than just keeping dirt and debris from
reaching your orbitals. Proper vison involves clarity in lowlight
situations or nighttime riding and blocking the glaring sun during
bright sunny days. Many helmet companies have started offering full
face and ¾ helmets with integrated sun screens that flip down with
the push of a button and retract into the helmet when not in use.
There are also transitioning face shields similar to the eyeglasses
that go from clear to tint depending on lighting conditions. These
offer great versatility for riding in all types of situations but
one company has taken things a step further.
AMI Powersports
AMI Powersports
originally developed its technology to be used by the Air Force but
now the company offers its Akari AX.11 e-tint face shield inserts
for the motorcycle crowd. According to Aim Powersports they are the
first to offer a liquid-crystal visor insert with electronic
on-demand tint for motorcycle use. The inserts fit inside the eye
port up against the helmet's face shield. An external button mounts
to the outside of the left side of the helmet and by simply pushing
the button the insert will change from clear to tinted or tinted to
clear in less than 1/10th of a second. You have the
option to operate the insert with the push-button or let it change
automatically with the lighting conditions via the light sensing
photo cell. The e-tint LCD screen is powered by a USB rechargeable
Lithium-ion battery and the screen features an anti-fog coating to
provide clear viewing in all weather. Aim Powersports' e-tint
insert shields are easy to install (no tools required) and are
currently available to fit a variety of popular helmets from major
manufactures such as Arai, Bell, Schuberth,
AGV, HJC and many
more.
Secondly important to seeing when riding a motorcycle, is being
seen when riding a motorcycle. This is especially true when riding
at night with motorists behind you. Several companies have created
lights that mount to the back of helmets and sync up with the
motorcycle's lighting system to operate as brake lights. If you
really want to catch the attention of motorists at night then
lighting up your motorcycle helmet is a great idea and there are
several options for doing jus that.
LightRider
The LightRider LEDs
offered by Lumenflex will fit anything from a full face to a half
or beanie style helmet. The LightRider is a strand of LEDs that
mount to the exterior helmet surface with high-strength adhesive.
The LED strip features a center section with flexible joints at the
ends that are connected to longer strips. This design allows the
user to route the LED strips just about any way they want around
the helmet. LightRider is available in either all red LEDs, Red
center section with yellow end strips, or red center section with
white end strips. You also have the option of powering the strips
off of the motorcycle's battery via a connected power cord or you
can run them off a Lithium-ion battery. The strips are super bright
allowing for daytime visibility as well as extending your presence
to others on the road when riding at night. The LightRider LEDs are
weather proof, lightweight (only adding 37 grams of weight to the
motorcycle helmet), and offer a low profile fitment that doesn't
interfere or compromise the structure or safety of the helmet.
LightMode
If you're a futurist and want to look like you
just rolled out of a Tron video game then a LightMode kit is for
you. LightMode offers two kits, the Electron Kit and the Proton
Kit. Both feature electroluminescent (EL) material that can be
applied to any motorcycle helmet and provides ultra-bright
illumination. The unique thing about LightMode is that it allows
you to crate unique designs on your helmet for a highly custom and
individual look. Each kit is powered by a small controller that has
three modes: glow, blink, and off. The controller is powered by two
AA batteries which can provide 13 hours of illumination when using
2000 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries.
The difference between the Electron and Proton
kits is that the Electron kit comes with 3 meters of EL wire and
50cm of tape and offers five color options: aqua, red, white,
green, and blue. The Proton kit doesn't come with any EL tape but
instead comes with extra EL wire and has two extra colors to choose
from yellow and pink. The kits come with an installation video and
design string to help you plan out your layout. An adhesive mount
is also included for the controller and can be mounted to either
side of the helmet so you can still use your helmet comms system or
helmet camera.
It seems no matter where you are, at the track, on the streets, or
riding the trails, everyone has some kind of camera mounted to
their helmet. Helmet cams can be very useful for training purposes
if you're working on your riding techniques. They can also be used
as evidence if you are caught up in some unfortunate accident.
However, most people like to use them to record and share their
motorcycle antics. The most popular cameras people use are the
GoPro, Drift, or
Contour but now you can add another player to the game.
Sena Prism Action Cam
Sena has become widely popular
amongst motorcycle riders for its Bluetooth helmet communication
systems. Offering features like rider-to-passenger/rider-to-rider
communication, turn-by-turn directions, music streaming, and
making/receiving calls from your smart phone, Sena is one of the
leaders in motorcycle [mageProductLink sku="690-20s-01d"
title=""]helmet communication systems[/mageProductLink]. Now they
have added yet another feature to their offerings with the
announcement about its new Prism action camera. The camera is a
stand-alone unit that can be mounted to the side of the helmet and
paired with your Sena headset or just about any other Bluetooth
enabled headsets you may use. The Prism camera comes with a highly
durable, waterproof case and offers the ability to record audio and
video of your ride.
If you pair the Sena Prism with your headset Sena's built-in
Bluetooth features allow you to use the jog dial functions on the
headsets to start, stop, communicate and share every second of your
adventure. You can even narrate your videos as you record. In
addition, the Sena Prism provides voice prompting to keep you up to
speed with information such as, time elapsed since last video
capture, video captured, battery low, and Bluetooth paired. If you
don't want to mount the camera to your motorcycle helmet or you
want to be able to capture multiple angles and views the Sena Quick
Release Mount System enables you to mount your camera just about
anywhere or to anything. Lastly, by downloading the Sena app you
can connect your phone and manipulate the device settings for your
Sena comms system as well as the Sena Prism Camera.
