Helmets

gotbent wrote:
"Joel" joelw135atcomcast.net wrote in message
. ..
Peter Clinch wrote:
Joel wrote:

What ever happened to the company that made a periscope type system
built into there helmet.
Looking at their site (reevu.com) I'd say they've given up hats for pedal
cyclists in favour of motorcyclists.

I did try a Reevu briefly (it was back when I always wore a lid). It was
okay... but not better than that and in practice I found having to move
my head to the correct angle to get the right view made it no better than
a bar mirror, and in practice your head could well be at an angle on a
'bent other than that which the designers assumed.

Pete.
I think they have a good idea, but I think a small video monitor as the
type sold for miniature computers and a CCD helmet camera facing rear
would be the ultimate. The miniature LCD hangs like a helmet mount mirror,
but gives you the view of a full screen monitor.

Battery life problems...going rear blind when the battery dies. Cost! LCD
not so good in bright light. Weight! If a system was developed with a CCD
and LCD, there would be no absolute reason to mount the LCD on the helmet,
and on a helmet focus distance would probably be a big issue, especially
amongst us presbyopic old codgers. With a mirror the focus isn't at the
mirror, but rather at the object (I could be wrong here...it's been a long
time since high school phyisics). With a LCD the focus is at the surface of
the display, and unless you had special lenses ground where the near vision
was at the top, you wouldn't be able to focus on the display. Moving the
display to a more remote position would require a larger display and more
power and then we get back to the bright ambient light display problems.



The LCD system I saw gives you the ability to see picture as if it was
on a 50" TV at 7.5' from screen. I had a expermental one for a portable
wrist mount computer, which I field tested, and it worked fine, but the
computer was crashing all the time. It was designed for the military as
a way for a spotter to remain hiden, but still get the view. I
simplified it, but you get the point. The camera also had an extreme
wide angle view which was adjustable. The battery life for the LCD was
15 hours, and the camera was only 6 hrs. When I tested it the supply was
Nicad, but with todays technology for batteries I would think the life
would be extended.

On Feb 9, 11:33 am, Peter Clinch wrote:
Joel wrote:
I think they have a good idea, but I think a small video monitor as the
type sold for miniature computers and a CCD helmet camera facing rear
would be the ultimate.

Nah... head-up display in your radar-equipped velomobile ;-)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

I'd vote for having a stoker on a back-to-back tandem as the ultimate
in rear vision. Unless they're asleep, or their vocal cords have been
paralyzed by fear, it's hard to do better for monitoring the world
behind you. :-)

Dan

On 2007-02-09 16:03:34 +0000, "gotbent" said:


"Joel" joelw135atcomcast.net wrote in message
. ..
Peter Clinch wrote:
Joel wrote:

What ever happened to the company that made a periscope type system
built into there helmet.

Looking at their site (reevu.com) I'd say they've given up hats for
pedal cyclists in favour of motorcyclists.

I did try a Reevu briefly (it was back when I always wore a lid). It
was okay... but not better than that and in practice I found having to
move my head to the correct angle to get the right view made it no
better than a bar mirror, and in practice your head could well be at an
angle on a 'bent other than that which the designers assumed.

Pete.
I think they have a good idea, but I think a small video monitor as the
type sold for miniature computers and a CCD helmet camera facing rear
would be the ultimate. The miniature LCD hangs like a helmet mount
mirror, but gives you the view of a full screen monitor.

Battery life problems...

Power it from a lithium cell, charged by a miniture wind turbine
mounted in the vents of your helmet.


--
Three wheels good, two wheels ok

www.catrike.co.uk

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Never occurred to me to use one when I was commuting on an upright so
perhaps it's just exposure.

Zebee

I didn't start using a mirror on a bike until I started riding a bent.
I found that on an upright it was easier to quickly twist my body and
look behind me. On my bent I find that very difficult to do. I ride in
a fairly reclined position, so the same sort of maneuver I did on an
upright tends to produce a view of the ground. I've found I get a
better view of the rear with a mirror on a recumbent than I did twisting
and looking back on the upright. I didn't know what I was missing when I
rode an upright, and if I was to start riding an upright again, I would
undoubtedly get a mirror for it.

---
John Knez

Buck wrote:
On 2007-02-09 16:03:34 +0000, "gotbent" said:


"Joel" joelw135atcomcast.net wrote in message
. ..
Peter Clinch wrote:
Joel wrote:

What ever happened to the company that made a periscope type system
built into there helmet.

Looking at their site (reevu.com) I'd say they've given up hats for
pedal cyclists in favour of motorcyclists.

I did try a Reevu briefly (it was back when I always wore a lid).
It was okay... but not better than that and in practice I found
having to move my head to the correct angle to get the right view
made it no better than a bar mirror, and in practice your head could
well be at an angle on a 'bent other than that which the designers
assumed.

Pete.
I think they have a good idea, but I think a small video monitor as
the type sold for miniature computers and a CCD helmet camera facing
rear would be the ultimate. The miniature LCD hangs like a helmet
mount mirror, but gives you the view of a full screen monitor.

Battery life problems...

Power it from a lithium cell, charged by a miniture wind turbine mounted
in the vents of your helmet.


Now how about add a little Infra Red technology for not riding?

On 2007-02-10 13:59:06 +0000, Joel joelw135atcomcast.net said:

Buck wrote:
On 2007-02-09 16:03:34 +0000, "gotbent" said:


"Joel" joelw135atcomcast.net wrote in message
. ..
Peter Clinch wrote:
Joel wrote:

What ever happened to the company that made a periscope type system
built into there helmet.

Looking at their site (reevu.com) I'd say they've given up hats for
pedal cyclists in favour of motorcyclists.

I did try a Reevu briefly (it was back when I always wore a lid). It
was okay... but not better than that and in practice I found having to
move my head to the correct angle to get the right view made it no
better than a bar mirror, and in practice your head could well be at an
angle on a 'bent other than that which the designers assumed.

Pete.
I think they have a good idea, but I think a small video monitor as the
type sold for miniature computers and a CCD helmet camera facing rear
would be the ultimate. The miniature LCD hangs like a helmet mount
mirror, but gives you the view of a full screen monitor.

Battery life problems...

Power it from a lithium cell, charged by a miniture wind turbine
mounted in the vents of your helmet.


Now how about add a little Infra Red technology for not riding?

Let's just go all the way and integrate a particle beam generator to
deal with errant cagers.
--
Three wheels good, two wheels ok

www.catrike.co.uk