Android Motorcycle Helmet/HUD Gains Funding 126
DeviceGuru (1136715) writes Skully Systems has achieved Indiegogo funding for a high-tech Android 4.4 based motorcycle helmet with a head-up display (HUD), GPS navigation, and a 180-degree rearview camera. The Skully AR-1 helmet launched on Indiegogo on Aug. 10 and quickly blasted past its $250,000 flexible funding goal and has already surpassed $900,000 in funding. The helmet runs a heavily modified version of Android 4.4, with both screen size and safety in mind, according to Skully's Tow. 'You should not think of it as being Android as seen in a phone; it doesn't run the same skin,' wrote Tow on the Skully forum page. 'You instead should think of it as a variant of Linux, not Android per se. What counts is the device drivers, graphics rendering for our turn by turn directions and vehicle telemetry, etc. More nerdy things like communication over the I2C bus to the image processing module.' Helmets are available starting at $1,399, with shipments due in May 2015.
Re:This helmet scares me. (Score:2, Interesting)
Polycarbonate - OK, that's the material used in low-end helmets (sub $200). In the $300+ category, we have fiberglass and carbon fiber. PC tends to craze (small cracks) when exposed to UV. I've seen a PC helmet crack in half when it fell off the bike and hit the concrete. Just from the material, I'm not interested.
Years ago I worked in a motorcycle shop that offered a helmet trade-in credit toward a new helmet. You wouldn't believe the junk people brought in. My job was to take the trade-ins out to the shop and crush them with the forklift so nobody could dig them out of the dumpster. Those 70's and 80's style helmets - the open faced ones with the big plastic bubble face shield - were the worst. I could smash them totally flat with the 10,000 pound fork lift, and when I'd back off, they'd spring right back to their original shape. No damage whatsoever. Whoever designed those had a lack of understanding of basic physics.
I'm not convinced that the high dollar helmets are any safer than the cheaper ones. I think you're paying for light weight and comfort (okay, worth it if you ride a lot). I put my head in whatever has the latest SNELL certification.
Re:As the man says... (Score:2, Interesting)
You may wish to find an old article in Motorcyclist magazine called "Blowing the Lid Off". In this article, they point out why testing against higher impact energies is wrong, and that in fact at the time, NON-Snell helmets were safer than Snell helmets. Snell has since revised their ratings, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that Snell==good while DOT-only==bad. That is simply not the case.