If busy traffic leaves you wishing you had eyes in the back of your head, you might be in the market for the FlyVIZ – a helmet-mounted camera that projects a 360 degree panorama before your eyes.
Eyes in the back of your head…the FlyVIZ may appeal to cyclists on busy roads and parents with toddlers
15 minutes of nausea
A camera mounted on a short mast delivers a feed to LCD screens. According to the designers of the visor, most wearer experience 15 minutes of initial nausea and disorientation, before being able to navigate their surroundings.
The FlyVIZ camera currently sits atop a cycle helmet, but development of the concept will see it miniaturized and incorporated into the shell of a helmet.
It’s not yet clear which applications will be best suited to the FlyVIZ visor, but it may prove useful to rescue teams and has already been tested by a car driver.
A driver’s view through the FlyVIZ visor
The following film is in French but demonstrates the visor in use…
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Haylor
I have a (old) Revue helmet which has mirrors arranged within the shell to give the equivalent of a car rear-view mirror. It’s an absolute god-send in traffic, particularly as I’ve god to the age when the neck is less flexible for checking behind. Is anybody still making similar? And if not, why not? It’s the best aid to personal safety I know of.
Amoeba
Nice idea, but apart from little things like distance judgement (judging gaps, braking, speed perception), low-light performance, and what happens when the batteries go flat, or something fails when you’re cycling at speed.
Because of the extreme wide angle, the looming (growth) of an approaching object, whether a car or motorcycle will occur suddenly. A high refresh rate and fine screen resolution will be required.
I am assuming the prototype with the top-projecting camera will shrink appreciably.
Is it 3D? If not distance & speed perception will be compromised.
I think it’s interesting, but I’m sure that this will be expensive and not very useful where decent segregated infrastructure exists.