Comments on: Bike headlight displays speed

By: thekinginyellow

thekinginyellow — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:38:00 +0000

seriously though. after watching the video it looks like he’s having a hard time operating the bike because he’s watching the display. this would be cooler if it were on some sort of HUD on a helmet or glasses so you don’t have to take your eyes off of your environment.

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:36:00 +0000

How about the advantage of having made something and having become smarter about making along the way? Seems pretty practical to me.

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:35:00 +0000

IKR! It’s not even a battle report, yet the war rages on.

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:33:00 +0000

I can’t help but wonder if there’s an almost too-subtle dig about putting your foot in your mouth?

By: oasisob1

oasisob1 — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:31:00 +0000

I was going to say it needs connection to cell and wireless keyboard for texting.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:17:00 +0000

I wouldn’t insult him like that, but I thought this was weird too. He seemed to be weaving back and forth into empty parking spaces and then back into the riding space between traffic and parked cars which is where he should just stay. If something blocks his way or it gets to tight then he needs to “take the lane”.

By: Navin_Johnson

Navin_Johnson — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:10:00 +0000

He just needs to get a blinking white front light and blinking red rear light. Giving him the benefit of the doubt perhaps he has them and didn’t want to distract from his demonstration. Lights are very necessary even in bright cities. As a cyclist I’ve almost hit other people on bikes I couldn’t see who didn’t have lights. Lights are kind of a no-brainer. As far as covering yourself in reflective material, I agree that’s not as necessary.

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:08:00 +0000

Anyone riding like that is not shoulder checking.

Given how slowly the cars were moving, there was no need to get out of their way anyway – just move at the same speed as other traffic…

By: Spencer Brown-Pearn

Spencer Brown-Pearn — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:33:00 +0000

So…what are the assembly/disassembly times associated with not wanting someone to steal your projector, etc every time you need to get off your bike and can’t take it inside with you?

By: disturbed

disturbed — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:22:00 +0000

back-up with Solar power or use some sort of chargeable unit, so you are not having a high budget on battery usage.

By: brainflakes

brainflakes — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:25:00 +0000

I think the most difficult part will be projecting a hologram :)

By: Ray Perkins

Ray Perkins — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:11:00 +0000

His project is cool, and all, but I don’t see an advantage over a regular speedometer. Other than maybe not having to re-focus your eyes as much.

By: Michael Ryzewic

Michael Ryzewic — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:27:00 +0000

This is very cool – I’d think it would be fun to implement in software on an iDevice or Android phone rather than hauling an additional processor and battery around. Of course, I may be biased as I already use my iPhone as a bike computer for speed/cadence/HR…

Are there any ruggedized and wireless pico projectors out there?

By: John Irvine

John Irvine — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:51:00 +0000

It should be set up to project David Byrne’s face.
http://youtu.be/xNnAvTTaJjM?t=2m56s

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:05:00 +0000

Yeah! Cycling is too dangerous to be enjoyed by the masses! Let’s force people to wear absurd safety gear or make them feel like they’re engaging in something akin to snowboarding off a cliff.

Seriously, cycling in most cities, day or night simply isn’t that dangerous, this idea that all cyclists must wear reflective vests, etc. does nothing but reenforces the idea that cycling is a fringe activity not worthy of serious consideration by governments or the general public. If you’ve got lights on, you’re doing ok.

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:54:00 +0000

How did you know he wasn’t doing shoulder checks? Judging by the angle the 1st person shot was taken at the camera was mounted on a shoulder or to his top somehow. Also the weaving seemed mainly to do with getting out of the way of the car behind.

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 02:47:00 +0000

You obviously haven't looked at dynamos lately. They've gotten a lot better over the years.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:40:00 +0000

Parsecs.

By: CliffStoll

CliffStoll — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:35:00 +0000

Ouch – wearing a black jacket and dark jeans while biking at night? Dodging traffic up close? Gives this urban cyclist the heebies. Or maybe the jeebies…

What I’d like to see (and would be a delight if Matt could create) is a wearable vest that displays big bright messages using a matrix of leds. I imagine programmable flashing bars, stars, letters, or a message for the car behind me. Make the vest orange so it’s visible in the day, and interwoven with 3M reflective material, so it’ll show up in headlights even when its batteries are dead.

Hmmm – maybe I’ll hack something together…

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:01:00 +0000

Perhaps that’s a warp factor.

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Ew! Is there really…? (sigh) Silly me. Of course there is.

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:53:00 +0000

4? Geez, man, eat your Wheaties!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:38:00 +0000

Make sure to get the Semen Stain ID app so that you know where not to put your foot.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Like Boston, where they have Whichever One-Way You Happen To Be Going streets?

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:44:00 +0000

You’ll feel less emasculated by them as well, so it’s all good!

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:43:00 +0000

I live in England, where we have a MUCH harder driving test, and I check my six constantly, cos people are still idiots.

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:42:00 +0000

Dunno, I had probably the same thing in the ’70s (and a MUCH heavier bike), but my kid-size legs did ok with it. But aye, it should be considerably lighter & more efficient.

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:29:00 +0000

Yeah, these days they gotta be better than the one I had in the early 90s. That sucker was heavy, noisy, and sucked a lot of pedalpower considering how little wattage it put out.

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:24:00 +0000

One of these days, Google Glass will display the potholes and roadkill and drainage grates and other assorted road hazards in my path, so I never need glance down at the road again!

Until then, I’d like to hook my Kindle to this projector, so I might catch up on my latest issue of Asimov’s on the ride home.

By: TheOven

TheOven — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:22:00 +0000

Google glasses have obsoleted an invention before it’s even invented?

I feel like I just put instant coffee in the microwave and went back in time a little.