Lumahelm

Helmets can save us from harm during risky activities like skating and rock-climbing. However, new developments in the design mainly focus on their primary purpose: safety. LumaHelm demonstrates that adding interactivity to helmets creates new product opportunities. It may not only make the helmet safer, but also make wearing it more fun. LumaHelm is a prototype cycling helmet outfitted with 104 individually addressable RGB LEDs, turning the curved surface into a simple display, visible from every angle. LumaHelm includes a microphone, a built-in accelerometer and a basic heart rate monitor to provide a variety of input channels. With this combination of hardware, we have used LumaHelm as a research vehicle to explore a number of different applications, including: Indicator and breaking light for cyclists; translating skateboarder moves in real-time to color and pattern; communicating a mountain climber's heart rate through a pulsating heart rate pattern. In designing these applications for LumaHelm, we have been intrigued by the unique design opportunities that an interactive helmet poses. When wearing LumaHelm, one becomes unable to witness the content on the helmet itself. We call this 'projected information', as the information channel is a one-way path away from the wearer to everyone else. The significance of this work is attested by its acceptance into the videoshowcase proceedings of the ACM 2013 conference, the leading conference in Human-Computer Interaction (previously ranked ERA A). The work also received the Spark award at the Spark International Design Award. It was also featured on Australia's Channel 10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ycgo0tZ9nU4 and in the Age: http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/a-bright-idea-to-help-bike-riders-be-seen-and-not-harmed-20120616-20h1s.html as well as countless international mentions on prestigious blogs and news websites (all listed on the project's URL