This smart bike helmet will keep you safe and connected on the road

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The LIVALL BH60 Helmet is a smart cycling helmet that integrates music, communication and lighting.

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Whether you’re a beginner or an avid biker, it’s common knowledge that wearing a helmet is important in the unlikelihood of an accident. What if that same helmet not only protected you during an accident, but helped prevent them while making your ride more enjoyable?

That’s the idea behind the BH60 Smart Helmet, a lighter and more improved version of the Bling (BH100) Helmet which first debuted this past summer. The brainchild of Auckland-based startup LIVALL Riding, it’s much more than your typical piece of cycling headwear. In fact, the wearable is packed with a mic, a three-axis G-sensor, a Bluetooth speaker and colored LEDs on the back of the helmet for enhanced nighttime visibility. Plus, it includes a remote control on its handlebars that allows you to activate its turn signals, play music, take phone calls, and snap photos and videos.

Designed with the safety of urban cyclists mind, the helmet has some valuable features like a three-axis G-sensor that is able to detect unusual gravity acceleration that happens when you fall. Immediately, the sensor will turn on emergency signals and send an SOS alert to contacts of your accident — very useful for those traveling alone.

The helmet boasts a built-in microphone and Bluetooth speaker that enables you to talk on the phone while you’re on the go. Or, if you enjoy riding in groups, those two features can function as a walkie-talkie between the others in your pack. Even text messages that are sent through its accompanying LIVALL Riding app will automatically be converted into voice messages so you don’t need to take your eyes off the road.

Aside from all that, the helmet comes with Bluetooth speakers so you can manage and listen to songs via its remote control, the Bling Jet. Easily accessible on your handlebar, the Bling Jet can also command the LED tail-lights and make them bling to resemble indicators, with “left” and “right” buttons. This helps drivers and pedestrians know which direction you’re turning.

No GoPro? No problem. You can take photos and record videos along your ride without ever having to stop. The Bling Jet offers the option of taking photos with the push of a button and storing them right in the app, letting you share your adventures with friends.

The BH60 Helmet and Jet are embedded with Bluetooth Low Energy along with a 380mAH and 120mAH battery, respectively, both rechargeable via microUSB. The helmet is capable of lasting 10 hours before needing to be juiced back up, while the remote can run for about 100 hours.

What’s more, a nano cadence sensor placed on your bike’s crank-set hole pairs with the companion LIVALL Riding app to display your cycling activity, as well as your speed, distance traveled and calories burned. Plus, the app will reveal slope rate, altitude and heart rate when you connect designated extension devices to your phone.

The idea for such a product originated after company co-founder Ken Liu was in an accident that resulted in a broken arm. To help others avoid similar dangerous situations, he wanted to provide fellow riders with a safer and smoother experience.

Interested in a smart helmet of your own? Head over to its Kickstarter page, where the team is currently seeking $65,396 on Kickstarter. The BH60 will ship in one of three stylish colors: black, ivory white and sky blue. Delivery is expected to get underway in January 2016.

Lumos is the world’s smartest bicycle helmet

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Lumos is the ultimate bicycle helmet that helps cyclists stay safe and visible on the road.

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Biking at night, especially on roads, can be downright dangerous. Just how dangerous, you ask? Every year, more than 49,000 cyclists are seriously injured in the United States alone — a large number of them as a result of a collision with a motorist. And although there have been several innovations geared towards making riding in the dark safer, a new helmet from one Boston-based startup may be the most clever yet. As a way to draw the attention of traffic, Lumos is equipped with wirelessly-controlled turn signal indicators and brake lights that automatically illuminate as speed is decreased.

It’s a pretty smart idea, and we wouldn’t expect anything less from former Harvard students Euwen Ding and Jeff Chen. Whereas modern-day light attachments can be easily left behind, not too many will venture out onto the roads without grabbing their helmet. Even better, Lumos has been designed to look no different than its more conventional counterparts.

The front of the helmet is equipped with series of 14 ultra-bright white LEDs, enabling them to be seen much more clearly than typical bike-mounted units. What’s more, 16 red LED are arranged in the back to form a triangle — a commonly used warning symbol on the road. An accelerometer embedded inside the helmet is able to detect whenever a cyclist is braking, which instantly turns the rear triangle solid and intensifies in brightness, just like a car.

One of, if not, the most standout features of the Lumos has to be its turn signal lights. These arrows are made up of 15 LEDs on either side of the rear triangle and headlight strip, and are activated through a two-button wireless remote attached to the handlebar, which runs on a CR2032 battery. Once triggered, vibrant yellow lights are turned on to form an arrow and a dash from the front indicating the direction a rider wishes to turn. Another press of the button will switch the signal off.

“The wireless remote works off a 2.4 GHz RF chip. These RF chips are more than powerful enough to handle the signaling feature and are also robust, reliable, and consume very little power, making it ideal for this use case. The remote is perpetually in sleep mode by default,” its creators note. “But when you press it, it instantly wakes up, sends its signal to the helmet it is paired with (a 1-1 pairing with the helmet that just needs to be done once during first use), and then powers down again after you turn the turn signal off. Since the remote is off for the vast majority of the time, this allows the remote to last for months before its coin cell battery would need to be replaced.”

The water-resistant helmet is currently available in two colors — charcoal black and pearl white — and comes with an integrated battery, which can be recharged via microUSB. According to both Ding and Chen, if Lumos is used for 30 minutes every day, each charge should last about a week.

Ready to stay safe while riding your bike at night? Then race over to Lumos’ Kickstarter page, where the team is seeking $125,000.