The contenders for the first really workable Head Up Display for motorcycle helmets is growing and another one, the NUVIZ Ride:HUD, currently on Kickstarter looks like one of the best we’ve seen so far. It can be installed on the chinbar of your current helmet which is pretty much a prerequisite for any system if it’s going to succeed in the market.
The Ride:HUD unit is quickly clamped to your helmet and can be swapped between helmets easily. Your visor can be open, closed or partially open because the transparent screen that displays the information is part of the unit. The information for the display is provided by the Ride:CLOUD app that runs on your smartphone. The many different types of information that can be displayed are selected by a controller mounted on your handlebars, tank or anyplace convenient and is connected by Bluetooth. The controller can be operated with gloves on.
One of the reasons this system seems so well designed is because of the two companies involved in its development.
NUVIZ is a joint venture between HOLOEYE Systems and APX Labs. We met each other while discussing wearable display technology opportunities for military and industrial applications. We quickly realized that we were all motorcycle enthusiasts, and decided to harness our expertise to develop a product that we would love to have on our own helmets.
The information available for display is almost anything you could want, navigation, weather, telemetry, music, communication, track data and more. There’s even an HD camera.
Plans are for summer of 2014 availability if they can get the funding to finish development and get production under way. Judging from what they have so far, I think this one is a pretty good bet. Nice unit. Watch the video.
Link: Kickstarter
Oldyeller says
Great – Looking down at a screen in close focus and WHAM! you hit something. Just another gadget to distract us.
Paul Crowe says
From the description:
Like I said, these guys seem a bit more knowledgeable in this field than some who have attempted this. Can’t say for sure, but that’s my take.
kim says
Ever ridden a bike with a tank-mounted speedometer?
Dale says
As perhaps the only remaining user of the SportVue MC-1, I can say that I am very happy there will be a newer implementation of a helmet HUD. I do have some concerns with this implementation, though.
1) The display will be just over the chin bar, which will put it at about the same visual elevation as my gauges. I’ll be glad to have the data it can display, but as far as a HUD is concerned, it may as well be on the bars in a standard farkle position. One of the benefits of the MC-1 being at the top of the visor is that I don’t have to look down to check my speed. When you look down, you lose peripheral vision’s situational awareness for the second or more (as we age) it takes to check an instrument and look back up. With the HUD at the top of the visor, I don’t lose that. I’m not sure why it works that way, but it does. I won’t need time to refocus on a display like this, but I’ll still lose visual context. Neither are a problem with the display at the top of the visor.
2) That’s a big chunk of asymmetric wind loading. I’d like to see some of that bulk moved around back in a separate module (and maybe with a bigger battery).
3) The camera being connected to the eye adjustment will make it a crap shoot as to whether images or videos will be framed the way you want. Hopefully it has a separate adjustment.
4) Having the display visible with the visor open is a non-issue. The MC-1 is visible with the visor open 1 click. Any situation where my visor is fully open, I don’t need to check speed or have the eye protection in place. It might be nice to study the map at a stop light with the visor open on a hot day, I guess.
I wish the MC-1 had the tech going into this though. The magazine made similar gushing claims back when it came out, but the design was too limited (and honestly flawed) to gain wide acceptance. I think the same will happen here, and that’s a shame. If I had to choose right now, I’d rather use Google Glass in my helmet.
Paul Crowe says
The asymmetric wind loading might be an issue, I guess we’ll have to see how their initial tests go.
I’ve been wondering how long it will be before Google Glass finds its way into something like this, though not having ever tried it yet, I’m not sufficiently familiar with its capabilities to know what needs to be done. Interesting, though, is that we’re already seeing some laws against wearing it while driving. Somehow I don’t think those restrictions will work for long.
Braden says
I’ve work a GoPro on the chin bar of my off-road/ds helmets for a while. The torque from wind is negligible even at highway speed. You wont even know this thing is there.
Paul Danger Kile says
Recon has some HUD products that were developed with skiiers, bicyclists, and motorcyclists in mind. (Their marketing doesn’t focus on motorcycles.) nuviz and Recon are the two that I want to test. Google glass costs more than three times what the Recon costs.
FREEMAN says
I would get something like this for navigation and little else, personally. But I can’t see myself getting it if the price is as high as the kickstarer backer prices are. Also, I’d much rather it ran independent of a cellphone and had offline maps.
j.smith says
Am I the only one who thinks this would be majorly annoying? I can’t even stand it when I get squished mosquitoes on my visor. I like to have a perfectly clear vision of what’s ahead. there are already enough distractions on the road, I don’t need one in my helmet.
Honestly I don’t see a big benefit of this compared to something mounted on the dash. in a high traffic intensity situation you shouldn’t look at this anyway, so if I’m just looking at this at traffic lights or when the nearest car is 3 miles ahead of me, I might as well look down to the dash.
I guess its major benefit is with the eyes not having to refocus. though to be honest I’ve never even noticed the “refocus” until you guys mentioned it here. maybe it’s becauce I’m 20 ;). So might be pretty useful for the older folks!
Hawk says
I think J.Smith has a good point. For most of the time, I’d rather be looking at the road … and traffic. Glancing at gauges and maybe a GPS is done only when other factors are not a pressing danger.
Also, the restriction of eye movements is very dangerous. Have you heard of “Motion Induced Blindness”? Google it, read the articles and watch the video examples. In my opinion, this is why we see so many “blind cagers” turning left right in front of us.
The phenomenon, while not understood, caused pilots from the WWI era to be told, “Always shift your view, never fixate, keep scanning your surroundings, etc.” While we understand more now, the need for constant scanning and eye movement is still there. Perhaps even more so. Your life depends on it.
So, sorry that I am skeptical of something that would keep me fixated ….. but having been riding since 1952, I don’t want to be taken out on a bike.
Paul Crowe says
All the current fighter aircraft, if I’m not mistaken, have HUD as a necessary piece of equipment. I would assume, they have a pretty critical need to have all information readily available while still focusing on the job at hand, seeing where the other guy is who is trying to shoot them down and managing multiple weapons systems and staying out of harms way from the odd surface to air missile. It also helps while landing on a carrier deck, keeping vital info in line of sight while also watching that tiny non stationary spot they’re trying to land on. If HUD systems aren’t a distraction in a high intensity environment like theirs, why is it a distraction for riders?
Since I have not used one, I can’t speak from experience, and for the same reason, I can’t say they’re great, awful or somewhere in between, but I would be very willing to try one and find out before passing judgement.
FREEMAN says
Fighter pilots are highly trained (and stressed) to use their equipment and aircraft. Sadly, the same can’t be said for all riders out there. But I do get what you’re saying.
Oldernowiser says
I too would really like to try one of these before passing judgement on it’s merits or lack thereof. I can’t help but think this would be a little more seamless than squinting down at that tiny map in the clear pocket of your tank bag, or even a gps mounted near your instruments, etc., etc. As far as fixating on it, I think that’s on you, not the display.
Jimbo says
I see no mention anywhere of ‘waterproof’. While I’m interested in the concept, that is a major concern for me!
Tom Green says
Considering the woman who recently got ticketed in California for wearing and possibly using her Google Glass. How is this any different, is it legal?
Dave B says
According to the FAQ on their website they designed it to comply with NHTSA guidelines on minimizing driver distraction, so should not fall afoul of the CA laws, since those laws explicitly exempt navigational displays etc that comply with those guidelines. Google Glass isn’t compliant with those guidelines.
Neal says
Good to see that this is making the rounds on the forums.
I found out about this a while back from a friend of mine who works for APX labs (a sister company to mine). I volunteered to beta test the 2nd gen version of the HUD but HOLOEYE is handling the hardware with APX working the software side of the development. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find one sitting on and engineers desk next time I’m there and “borrow” it for the day.
My immediate response to the idea was similar to the main concerns expressed here, distracting, wind loading etc. I have to say the MIB subject mentioned by Hawk is interesting and not something I had previously thought of.
I’ve already passed the link along to my friend at APX in hopes they incorporate some of the feedback from the community when designing the displays.
Renegade_Azzy says
Ive got 2 concerns… Can I use my own mapping software with it (prefer NavFreeUSA, as i can download maps) because of spotty cell phone coverage, and how waterproof will it be?
The cost is also a bit of an issue… attaching this doubles the cost of the helmet.
Bruce says
Im’m so glad to see this product’s concept and sincerely hope it can be developed in keeping with its current path. Best of luck to you with this project. It could open many new doors. Put my name down for one of the very first production models of the unit to come off the line.
Anthony says
I can’t believe people are actually comparing a fighter pilot using a HUD with a motorcyclist using a HUD. Last time I checked…a fighter pilot in the sky has a lot more space to work with than a motorcyclist. They don’t have to follow roads, don’t have to dodge cars swerving out in front of them and don’t really need to take notice of change in road surface. This “technology” is too much…people can’t ride as it is..how can introducing more distractions to a rider be beneficial? Riders should be focused on riding 100% of the time…not looking at the weather, uploading pictures to social media, listening to music and looking at your rear view mirror. How can you even warrant a rear view HUD, when I’m riding I’m concentrating on things in front of me because I’m going forward. This is technology is a liability. Instead of trying to compensate poor riding skills with technology…they should learn to ride instead.
Markus Pintzinger says
As others have said, it’s a great innovation and will surely become more popular in the future as technology prices come down and smaller components can be embedded safely into helmets. However, many of us want to avoid the almost inevitable ‘cloud computing’ aspect of live maps or info streamed to your helmet through paid-for mobile internet usage plans. Offline storage of certain data is an option, but with it’s own disadvantages, obviously.
Personally, I would prefer to be able to combine a streamed data option (linked to my current mobile phone payment contract) with an offline database to avoid constant charges and drop outs.
Markus says
I think this is a terrible idea. Part of the attraction of riding is the unmediated nature of the experience. I’m not looking through a screen, I’m not listening to the radio, or my iPod, or whatever. I’m just riding. I’m focused. I’m aware. If your attention is on the display – whether it’s heads up or not – it’s not on traffic, or the road conditions, or anything else. It slows your reaction time, causes tunnel vision and makes you prone to the kind of inattentional blindness that has so many cagers not seeing the bikes that are in their line of sight. I just want to ride, and experience the ride. I want to immerse myself in that experience. Not in a technology that mediates it. I could stay home and play a video game if I wanted that.
Donald Womack says
Like a phone number to contect someone or where do I order from and when?
Dean says
I liked the look of this one it’s not as bulky but wether it works or not I would still like to give it ago it will be good to blame my speeding on something besides my hand slipped or my throttle got stuck let me know where to purchase and when