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Two guys from Harvard build a high-tech helmet to reduce cyclist deaths

lumos_helmet_on_bike
lumos_helmet_on_bike

A smart bike helmet that helps cyclists stay safe and visible on the road has raised more than double its target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.

Lumos, invented by Eu-wen Ding and Jeff Chen, who both went to Harvard, features integrated lights similar to those on cars.

lumos_white_helmet_brake
lumos_white_helmet_brake

Its front and rear lights make road users aware of a cyclist’s presence. The red rear lights are arranged to form a triangle, a commonly used warning symbol on the road. White LEDs at the front make the cyclist visible to approaching vehicles and helps the cyclist navigate better.

lumos_white_helmet_turnsignal
lumos_white_helmet_turnsignal

Yellow arrows on the sides of the helmet are triggered by wireless controls on the bike’s handlebars. They allow cyclists to signal whether they’re about to switch lanes or make a turn.

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Meanwhile, an integrated accelerometer automatically turns the rear lights into bright solid red when the cyclist slows down or stops.

You can recharge Lumos with a micro USB cable like you would your phone. A full charge will allow you to use the helmet for 30 minutes every day for a week.

Boston-based Lumos breached its US$125,000 goal on Kickstarter on the day it launched. The project has raised US$338,899 as of writing, and with 22 more days to go.

Saving cyclists’ lives

“It’s important for cyclists to always wear a helmet. However, traditional helmets really only serve as an insurance in the event of a crash or collision. We wondered if we could make a helmet that could do something more proactive to prevent a collision from happening in the first place,” Ding says of their product.

Ding, a Singaporean who’s a cyclist himself, drew inspiration for Lumos from his own needs. “As a cyclist, I found myself in situations where I had forgotten my lights but decided to ride anyway. It was a bad idea but one many of us have done before, prioritizing our convenience over other considerations. I forgot my lights all the time but I rarely forgot my helmet. It occurred to me that if we could combine the two, that would be a pretty neat thing,” he tells Tech in Asia.

Ding pitched his idea alongside Chen at a weekend Startup Scramble at the Harvard Innovation Lab two years ago, but they had to bail on the Scramble because it didn’t have the tools they needed to build a prototype. The founders trekked over to a hardware-based hackathon at MIT the same weekend and built it there.

In 2014, they incorporated Lumos in Boston. They’ve worked on the hardware with helmet expert Peter Macon for over a year before coming to Kickstarter, and got it certified for safety by regulators in US and Europe.

Ding says one huge market for them is the US, where over 49,000 cyclists get seriously injured and more than 700 die due to road accidents every year. Asia is another target market. Ding says they haven’t figured out where they’re gonna sell first.

“Lumos is not a panacea solution to cycling safety, but we do believe that we can have an impact to address this problem, something many of our backers have also iterated,” he clarifies.

The helmet is now being sold for US$99 on Kickstarter. Once stock runs out, the price will go up to US$119.

Ding says they chose to launch the product on Kickstarter first because “the cycling community is well represented on [it].”

“It was such a great surprise to hit our funding goal on the first day. I think it means two things: there is a very real problem that we’ve identified here, and it’s been needing a better solution for some time. The people who are experiencing that problem believe in the potential of Lumos to address the problem.”

This post Two guys from Harvard build a high-tech helmet to reduce cyclist deaths appeared first on Tech in Asia.