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More HUD Technology Coming To Your Motorcycle |
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File under Gadgets
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
Via: Gizmodo
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HUD  technology has become common place in up-market cars. Driving your BMW sedan, with in your windscreen discretely displayed, your speed and RPM, and even basic GPS navigation instructions. It's a safe technology, since you get important information without taking your eyes of the road.
Motorcycles have had the technology available as well, but it has been limited. The obvious concerns have been the real estate available to place HUD technology on a motorcycle. There just isn't enough space to put it. The only place you have is your helmet visor, but then manufacturers would need to place it in their own helmet, or in the case of Motion Research 's SportVue, as an add-on. To read my detailed product review of this technology, click here .
Now there's another way of bringing HUD technology to motorcycle riders. It's from Recon Instruments . Recon display data inside a goggle, meaning they control the "hardware", since the goggle is theirs. It's not an add-on, it's integrated in the goggle. The HUD goggle was created for skiing, but already Recon see other applications, such as motorcycle riding.
It does mean that normal helmets, ie full face/integral or modular types can't use this technology, but jet and off-road helmets can, since they can use a goggle.
The HUD technology combines data such as performance (speed, etc), navigation (GPS data is sent to the goggle without wires) and even phone data (caller id, incoming SMS, etc) and display all of it inside the goggle.
The technology is ideal for off-road motorcycle riders. If you read the product review report mentioned above, you'll see that already then I used the HUD for off-road riding. When you are in enduro, or even motocross mode, you can not look at your instruments. You are usually standing on your foot pegs anyway, towering above the instruments, and you need to slow down to look at the GPS. A HUD display will eliminate this issue. The HUD enabled goggles weigh 210 grams.
Nifty. The goggles are coming next fall (2010), and depending on the version, will cost around US$350 and US$450.
Now to get this info inside your motorcycle helmet visor.... that would be really cool.
Click here for more info on the Recon Instruments HUD .
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