SENTH IN1-The Google Glass For Cyclists
The Senth IN1 headset is like Google Glass for cyclists – an AR heads-up display that shows useful information and which can be controlled while on the move. It gives riders a heads-up display (HUD) for safer and more convenient riding. The glasses connect to a smart phone for app power, and to a control button mounted on handlebars so users can control the display without losing control of the bike.
The glasses also pick up third-party signals from other fitness devices like heart rate monitors and weather or elevation monitors, and incorporate the information into both the HUD and its performance record for the user.
These glasses are being developed by a Beijing-based startup, specifically for cyclists. The team is currently raising crowdfunds via the Indiegogo platform with the aim of turning their prototype into a shipping product.
“For me, cycling is both a sport and a hobby,” says Beijing-based Li Jiwen. Twice a month he rides from downtown all the way out to the suburbs; he’s even tackled Qinghai lake, China’s largest, on two wheels – even though it’s over 3,000 meters above sea level.
Li has an engineering master’s degree in virtual reality and augmented reality and has experience working in the fields of AR and facial recognition. For his first startup, he’s working on a gadget that uses everything he knows – and applies it to cycling.
In terms of features the team is aiming to develop for their Insenth OS (atop the Android base), users will be able to view their distance and speed via the glasses’ waveguide display, as well as link the hardware via Bluetooth to other sensing wearables they own to view other metrics such as heart rate or cadence; plus view maps and navigation directions as they ride; take photos and videos via an onboard camera; select and play music; and make phone calls and send voice messages.
Are you a social person? You can share your photos and videos straight to your social networks from your bike. Lost? Fire up navigation mode, and it’ll flash up directions in your vision, just like Google Glass.
