Saturday, December 20, 2014

Volvo's bike helmet concept alerts riders and drivers to each other

It's a two-way system that works by uploading both cyclists' and drivers' locations to Volvo's cloud. While a connected car's in-dash system makes that possible, the helmet needs to be linked to a bike app like Strava to do so. Bicyclists can then be warned that there's a car coming their way or crossing their path by warning lights built into the helmet.

Drivers, on the other hand, will be alerted via a heads-up display on the windshield if a bicycle's nearby, which is especially useful if it's coming from a blind spot. It's an intriguing idea, but if it works is another matter, as not everyone drives a Volvo -- also, some people might not be too keen on uploading their locations to the cloud. Several automakers have shown off V2X (vehicle to environment) systems that connect locally and directly, but they aren't on the market yet.

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