You’ll need a helmet if you plan to jump on a motorbike, but the latest style isn’t just for protection, but for navigation, sound, and more.
There are plenty of ways to add better sound to your car, to capture video from it either by dash-cam or by mounting an action camera to the front, and it’s pretty clear what you can do for GPS navigation, but getting all of that to a motorcycle is a totally different story. Without the internal cabin, your options aren’t exactly super varied, and so if you’re keen to upgrade your riding experience, you need to find a way to integrate it.
An Australian company, Forcite, has been working on just that, and over the past couple of years, has been steadily improving its technology. One of the winners of the James Dyson Award levels in prior years, the concept is for a smart helmet, and to essentially integrate all of the aspects you could normally improve a car with, but found inside the helmet.
Forcite’s latest variation is the MK1S, a helmet that has seen the company bring the hardware in one place and make the design sleek.
There’s a connection supported to phones to track speed traps, life traffic, and mobile camera alerts, as well as for use with GPS navigation, but rather than rely on an obvious screen, there’s a vision-diffused LED screen inside the helmet to provide this information, with ambient light sensors adjusting the brightness. In essence, you can still get alerts without obviously having a screen in your face.
Forcite has also integrated a wide-angle Full HD 1080p camera inside the helmet, capturing at 30 or 60 frames per second, recording to microSD, while the audio inside the helmet is handled by Harman Kardon speakers, providing a relatively high-end audio experience for riders listening, and a couple of omni-directional microphones with wind reduction for calls. What’s more, Forcite expects a few days worth of usage from the battery life in the helmet, which can be charged by simply plugging it in.
At the same time, the tech for the helmet also covers the design, with 3D-formed foam for a contoured fit, materials better equipped to handle sweat on the inside, while the outside is made from carbon fibre and features a venting system to keep riders cool, arriving in a 1.5kg helmet.
“We captured thousands of points of on-road feedback sent in by Forcite MK1 riders. Our design engineers used this info to craft more luxurious padding, high-end audio and to improve camera quality in the Forcite MK1S. Our rider alert system and peripheral LED display is even more dialled into real time road conditions, helping riders keep themselves safe,” said Alfred Boyadgis, CEO and Co-Founder of Forcite.
“These are the most advanced Forcite helmets we’ve ever created. Motorcyclists are going to love them,” he said.
Availability for the Forcite MK1S is technically from June, but orders kick in now, with each MK1S helmet costing $1299 and built to size.
