Adding lights to a bike helmet is one way to improve visibility at night, but Chinese company Livall has gone a step further – its LED-loaded helmet also serves as a walkie-talkie and sends out an SOS alert when you fall down.
The Livall cycling helmet features rows of colored LED lights on the top and eight colored LEDs at the back, which act as direction indicators to keep other road users aware of your movements. These are controlled via a handlebar-mounted controller that speaks to the helmet over Bluetooth 4.0.
Dubbed Bling Jet, the controller is charged via Micro USB and allows control over a number of other features of varying practicality. The helmet is fitted with Bluetooth speakers that can play music from the user's phone controlled by the Bling Jet, if you feel compelled to turn your noggin into a rolling boombox. The helmet also has a built in microphone, so should you receive a call while in the saddle you'll only need to tap a button under the cap of the helmet to start chatting.
The Bling Jet also allows remote control over a connected phone's camera, so you can snap photos and videos with a swift movement of the thumb. It also has built a 360 degree rotatable handlebar mount with a 5,000 mAh backup battery so you can keep your phone juiced up and in full view.
The company has designed an app to handle photo and video capture and store the files for sharing via Facebook and Twitter, among other things. The Livall Riding app also allows cyclists to keep in touch should the group become separated. Through its walkie talkie function, users can speak to one another through the Bluetooth speaker and microphone, or alternatively, text messages will be converted to voice messages and played through the helmet. This could certainly come in handy if you're typically riding through busy streets where it doesn't take much separation to fall out of earshot.
The app can also integrate ride data from other wearables, such as a pedometer, smartwatch or Livall's Nano Cadence Sensor, which it bills as the smallest in the world. And in case of emergency, a gravity sensor built into the helmet is designed to detect a sudden fall, in turn activating additional lights on the helmet and sending an SOS alert to your emergency contacts.
Livall has turned to crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise the $20,000 it needs for mass production. Pledges of US$159 will have a pack including the helmet, a Bling Jet controller, a cadence sensor and a phone holder sent your way in October 2015 if the campaign runs as planned.
You can check out the pitch video below.
Source: Livall
