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http://sympatico-msn-ca.com.com/2300-1008_3-6111157-1.html?tag=ca_home
This is really neat for the cyclist who has everything.
A bike helmet built for road hazardsAugust 30, 2006 5:16 PM PDT
Ted Selker, a research scientist and professor at MIT's Media Lab, wears the Smart Helmet he invented five years ago. What can it do? It can play music or audio books, with hook-ups for an iPod or tape cassette. It can record speech through built-in microphones and GPS, warning the wearer of a hazard on a given route. It can also detect important sounds like a fire siren to mute music when necessary. It has a Motorola cell phone with Bluetooth installed so a bicyclist can talk on the phone, hands-free, while commuting.
From the outside, the Smart Helmet looks ordinary. It's a black, shiny BMX helmet designed to block wind noise. It has a chin bar with a built-in microphone near the mouth that muffles external noise, too.
Inside, the helmet has a microchip PIC processor that controls everything from turning blinkers on to recording voice commands. A built-in accelerometer--a device that measures acceleration or its own motion--detects when the wearer gets bumped or nods his head, which then causes the chip to activate various commands.
For example, the wearer can tip his head to the left to turn the left-side blinker on at the back of the helmet. If the wearer yells at an unruly motorist, the helmet will activate a horn at a higher decibel than the human noise.
Credit: Ted Selker
This is really neat for the cyclist who has everything.
A bike helmet built for road hazardsAugust 30, 2006 5:16 PM PDT
Ted Selker, a research scientist and professor at MIT's Media Lab, wears the Smart Helmet he invented five years ago. What can it do? It can play music or audio books, with hook-ups for an iPod or tape cassette. It can record speech through built-in microphones and GPS, warning the wearer of a hazard on a given route. It can also detect important sounds like a fire siren to mute music when necessary. It has a Motorola cell phone with Bluetooth installed so a bicyclist can talk on the phone, hands-free, while commuting.
From the outside, the Smart Helmet looks ordinary. It's a black, shiny BMX helmet designed to block wind noise. It has a chin bar with a built-in microphone near the mouth that muffles external noise, too.
Inside, the helmet has a microchip PIC processor that controls everything from turning blinkers on to recording voice commands. A built-in accelerometer--a device that measures acceleration or its own motion--detects when the wearer gets bumped or nods his head, which then causes the chip to activate various commands.
For example, the wearer can tip his head to the left to turn the left-side blinker on at the back of the helmet. If the wearer yells at an unruly motorist, the helmet will activate a horn at a higher decibel than the human noise.
Credit: Ted Selker
I think it would be pretty cool for long trips on fairly unused roads, but as a bike commuter in the city, I preffer to have both ears, as well as periferal vision, unfettered.