Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Having a large computer mounted to your handlebars is not quite so odd anymore. With powermeters and GPS devices it is not unusual to see maybe more than one gadget. Check out a pic from my recent ride.

(Things are starting to get crowded)

The Cerevellum would like to be the next cool gadget to mount on your handlebars. The gadget is still in the concept stages with a few prototypes already developed. The core feature is a video display from a rear -facing camera mounted on your handlebar ends. The rearview screen is an evolution of the large SUV mounted cameras that allow you to see what is behind without craning your neck. This was a necessary feature for gigantic SUVs and it seems like a natural extension to cycling.

The concept of having a video display showing the view from behind you is nice for many reasons. First off you can throw out those helmet mounted mirrors. They look dorky. Next you have the safety of seeing what is coming up behind you which is very important especially in high-traffic areas. For racing you can look behind to see if you have a gap when attacking or see if the person behind you is suffering so you can go on an attack.

The advantages are great, but compare a $300+ video display that requires you to look down vs. an ever-present $20 helmet mirror, the idea of looking dorky and having a couple of bucks in your pocket is not bad.

The initial prototype took a Nintendo handheld unit with a camera mounted in the ends of the handlebars. The battery life was enough for a two hour ride. The full production concept looks to go beyond the simple functionality of the rearview camera called Hindsight. After all, the Hindsight camera features does take up a portion of real estate on you handlebars, so to make it more viable they feel the need to incorporate more functionality. The functionality will not be built by Cerevellum, but they will create a new standard use of “modules” where functionality can be added or removed by plugging little devices into the bottom of the device. The plan is to allow other companies to build modules that would add functionality to the main unit such as GPS, Powermeter and anything else.

The marriage of the various components looks to be ambitious since you have to ask major industry players to build a new product that would plug into the hindsight base unit. The concept is great, but how do you get Garmin, Polar and others to build these units?

http://www.cerevellum.com/

CNet: Crave Post