Move over, Glass, there’s another AR solution for motorcyclists. A startup out of Russia has ideated a helmet with a HUD that claims to solve all your navigation needs.
LiveMap’s helmet looks more like the lovechild of a Simpson racing lid and fighter pilot helmet, than a traditional motorcycle helmet. The company says it will be slightly bigger than your average helmet but its carbon fibre construction will keep it relatively light at under 1kg. That’s the hope, at least. By projecting a transparent image onto the visor, the rider doesn’t have to look down at their phone or GPS, or up into a corner like with Glass. It’s very much like the HUDs on fighter pilot helmets.
Maps will be powered by Navteq and voice commands handled by Nuance and battery life is expected to last a whole day or however long two 3000mAh batteries will go, which doesn’t seem that long. It will be certified across the board: DOT, ECE, etc.
LiveMap even has $US1 million in backing from the Russian government and is looking to raise $US150,000 on Indiegogo. But can a helmet like this possibly be developed for just a million? As it stands now, LiveMap says they have bits and pieces of everything working but not an actual working helmet prototype. And they want to sell each one for $US1500. So I’m very sceptical but hopeful that this actually becomes a real thing that I might one day purchase. Unless, of course, one of the existing manufacturers does it first. [LiveMap via Indiegogo