Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/06/augmented-reality-bike-helmet.html
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Looks like fun, until Zubat smacks you in the face when you’re doing 30.
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A side mirror on your handlebar does that pretty well too. And it’s cheap and easy to install.
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If I had AR on my bike for my commute I’d want simple mapping and street warnings. The more stuff in your field of view, the more distracted and reliant on the warnings you get.
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The greatest safety-tech innovation there’s ever gonna be for two-wheel folk is autonomous cars. AR helmets aren’t even in the running.
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Autonomous cars may be a great thing for those on bikes, but I’m not convinced they will quite top sensibly placed bike lanes: physically separated from motor traffic by parked vehicles where on-street parking is available, by a concrete barrier or a couple meters of green space where it’s not.
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So that I can be forced to navigate 10 MPH cyclists at 30 MPH instead of 30 MPH cars? I can’t wait…
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I’d be more worried about making eye contact with someone.
http://www.rarecandytreatment.com/comics/1459768/battle-waits-for-no-bike/
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I’m not sure if you mean that
- you drive a car, and are worried that cycle lanes, to reiterate, physically separated from cars will somehow force you to interact with cyclists in your car more rather than less
- you ride your bike very fast, and would rather interact with fast moving cars than with people who ride their bikes at a more typical speed.
The latter. Although I don’t consider 30 MPH very fast. For me 30-40 MPH is very fast, but I am currently out of shape.
In Manhattan a few years ago I had police actually pursue me for a distance in an attempt to ticket me for not using the (obstructed) bike lane. As if that was going to happen! At least separated bike lanes would not have taxis and other cars parked in them.
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Ah, I see. I… understand that that is theoretically possible. I ride every day and consider myself to be pretty fit, but I guess by the standards of someone who thinks 30 mph on a bicycle is ‘slow’ I’m probably in terrible shape.
Not considering it very fast is not the same as slow! How about moderately fast?
Isn’t this the plot of Max Headroom?
As someone who has gone through two bike helmets (one because I am a total klutz and flopped over hard in an intersection by trying to ride one handed while standing on the pedals, and the second because my fork broke), the idea of a very expensive electronic helmet is silly.
Helmets are one-time use items. One good thwack and it’s used up. The fancy electronics just make it harder to recycle and much more expensive.
Depending on the environment, 30’s a pretty good clip!
Also sounds like more of a sprint than a sustained speed. I regularly pull 35-40 depending on the bike and the wind – when I’m going downhill 
Seriously though, I agree about self-driving cars, and not just in theory. I realized too late I’d made the wrong lane-changing calculus when I had the option to merge in front of one of Google’s self-driving cars and didn’t do it. In the future, that’s something I’ll always take advantage of.
I don’t think it’s worth designing cycle infrastructure around a very small percentage who can ride at motor vehicle speeds. Most other cyclists I see don’t travel at 20mph except downhill, let alone 30mph.
As for the helmet - I quite like it, although Zak says I’m not sure you really want a very expensive helmet. Would I buy one for £80? Probably. £250? Nope. I think a better combination would be something like the old Reevu bicycle helmets that that had a kind of periscope-like system for seeing behind you, combined with something like google glasses. That way you can leave your helmet locked to the bike and take the expensive gadgetry with you.
(The old Reevu helmets: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2009/sep/14/rear-vision-mirrors)
Sustained?
Nope.
Flat out sprint?
Sure- for a few hundred yards, maybe.
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