Helmets getting smarter by the year

Motorcycle helmets are getting smarter all the time with head-up display, crash alerts, air-conditioning and active noice-cancelling, while some riders (or pillions) are not so smart (watch this video!)

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Helmet tech has been around for a long time like this turbo visor that cleans the visor in the rain.

But in recent years smart tech has exploded, mainly with head-up display.

It displays important information such as speed and navigation guidance on a small screen in your periphery vision.

This tech has been around for a few years with many promises but few product deliveries.

In 2018, Skully controversially returned to the market and Australian startup Forcite started looking for riders to act as test pilots for their ultralight but ultra-hi-tech smart helmet.

Smarter, smaller, tougher

The tech is getting smarter, smaller and more robust and in the next few years it will become cheaper.

But HUD is yet to play a major role in primary motorcycle safety. Perhaps that will change in 2019.

Meanwhile, there is other tech that is available now that is an advantage to riders.

One is active noise-cancelling. Like Bose headphones, it produces a mirror images of ambient sound waves to cancel out damaging wind noise.

Sena has developed a helmet with this tech and, of course, you can also wear noise-cancelling earphones under your helmet.

It’s not yet certified for Australia and may have some difficulty getting Euro approval as some European countries ban Bluetooth and/or earphones in helmets.

Helmet AC

If you believe in global warming, then airconditioning for helmets will be vital for the survival of motorcycles.

There have been all sorts of strange contraptions to add to helmets.

Now American inventor and avid rider Steve Feher has launched the world’s first air-conditioned helmet that is claimed to decrease temperatures by 10-15º Fahrenheit (6-8ºC).

Not cheap

The biggest problem with all this smart motorcycle helmet technology is that it will make helmets more expensive, so you will not only need to lock your bike from thieves, but also your helmet.

So here comes the Kobe Smart Helmet Case which electronically secures your helmet to your bike when parked and neatly folds away when not in use to be visually discrete and aerodynamic while riding.

Sounds like a good idea, but it will cost you €199 (about $A310, $US225).

While tech tries to make our heads smarter and safer, some people would prefer no helmet or even a turban!