Car drivers can always be thankful for the indicator lights that show the direction they are heading to. It is a great feature to have especially when driving at night.
For cyclists, however, signaling could be terrifying since fast hand motions are required. Apart from the frightening experience of sharing the road with rapid moving vehicles, the task of signaling adds more stress to cyclists. But all those struggles end now.
Presenting The Lumos Helmet
Unlike other gear, the Lumos helmet is a smart bike helmet that has lights to indicate the direction the rider is heading to. Resembling an ordinary bike helmet, it is capable of indicating when the rider is turning left, right, or even braking.
With more than 60 LEDs, the smart helmet is wirelessly connected to a remote mounted on the handlebar of the bike. The cyclist controls the turn signals displayed on the bike.
The sleek gadget also has a built-in accelerometer capable of brake detection and light activation. Another salient feature of the wearable includes being water resistant, which can be switched on with the help of a single button. The helmet can be recharged with a USB cable.
The Lumos helmet costs $180 and passes U.S and European standards.
Meet The Brains Behind The Smart Bicycle Helmet
As a bike lover, Lumos Helmet CEO and co-founder Eu-Wen Ding loves the freedom that comes with cycling. It was during a hackathon that the Boston-based engineer first came up with the idea of this smart helmet with fellow engineer Jeff Chen, who is CTO of the company.
They started their journey through the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. The campaign successfully helped them raise more than $800,000 two years ago, and was partly helped by an endorsement from Bill Nye the Science Guy.
The company then enlisted a manufacturer to produce the helmets. Although the initial prototype did not look great, Ding and his team worked and got the designs right. A year later, the product cleared all the safety tests and began shipping to customers.
The device also won in the Transport category of the 2016 edition of the Beazley Designs of the Year, which is organized annually by The Design Museum in London. More than 14,000 Lumos helmets have been shipped to the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Ding and his team can hardly keep up with the demand. The Lumos team is working on developing different helmet sizes, including ones for children. Lumos helmets are changing the game for safety gear manufacturers.
