Are you a motorbike rider in want of a bit of Iron Man tech in your life? If so, then intelligent helmet systems manufacturer Jarvish has your back. Or, perhaps more appropriately, your head. Launched on Kickstarter this week, Jarvish is offering a “launch special” for its Jarvish X and X-AR helmets — boasting a plethora of features including voice control, interior speakers, noise-canceling tech and, in the case of the pricier X-AR, an augmented reality head-up display offering visual navigation information. All of this is packaged up in a protective pure carbon fiber shell.
In what may be the most high-tech bike helmets available, the X-Series helmets connect to existing artificial intelligence assistants including Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant, all of which can be activated through voice. The voice control can also be used to provide turn-by-turn navigation instructions, along with traffic and weather conditions, either exclusively through audio or audio and visual. On top of this, there are 2K cameras, which can record footage to a memory card or stream it live via social media.
“Myself and [my co-founder] have been riding motorcycles for decades, since we were very young,” Jeremy Lu, CEO of Jarvish, told Digital Trends. “When we set out to design these helmets, we, therefore, did so from the perspective of being longtime bikers. We didn’t want it just to be about tech; we wanted safety to really come first.”
Because of this, the helmets additionally offer some neat crash detection technology. “There are sensors inside, which use our own developed algorithms,” Lu continued. “These are able to detect when the riders get into an accident. It has very high levels of accuracy, so that we know when the rider is riding and wearing the helmet, versus just throwing the helmet around at home.”
Provided it works as well as described, it’s an incredibly comprehensive package which takes advantage of the latest technology has to offer. The tech is apparently good enough that it is being tested out by the Taiwanese police, who seem very happy with it. Unsurprisingly, the response on Kickstarter has been very enthusiastic so far, with the helmets already tripling their fundraising target within a day of going live.
As ever, we offer our usual warnings about the risks associated with crowdfunding campaigns. However, if you’re aware of these and nonetheless want to get involved, head over to the Kickstarter page to get involved. A Jarvish X helmet will set you back $399, with shipping set for April. The more expensive AR-X costs $899, with shipping planned for September 2019.
