The Indiegogo campaign for the Skully AR-1 motorcycle helmet is just a few days old, but already it’s raised triple over its target backing: an astonishing $800,000 (R8.5 million). One can infer that they’ve sold some 500 helmets in two days. And from that, one can infer that each helmet sells for a cool $1,600 (R17,000).
At that hefty price tag, you’d expect the helmet to come fully specced out – and it is. There’s a wide-angle rear-view camera which feeds footage to the HUD in front. The HUD itself will show you important statistics like speed and fuel levels. Moreover, it connects to your smartphone to display directions and GPS, and integrated audio also lets you answer calls on your motorcycle (without using your hands) or stream music into the helmet.
Terminator motorcycles, anyone?
[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8nE2V8gcsY”]They’ve compensated for safety concerns well: the visor is fog-, scratch- and glare-resistant and the helmet itself is DOT/ECE-certified. More importantly, the HUD itself puts all the above information in the motorcyclist’s line of sight without obscuring his or her view of the road.
Lastly, there are the requisite quality-of-life buffs that always come to help justify and solidify its place as a high-end product. The “Outlast” lining in the helmet is supposed to reduce perspiration by 70 per cent. There are multiple sizes to choose from and the foam is precision-laser-cut for a perfect fit. It’s also purportedly lightweight and aerodynamic, so that should appeal to the adrenaline-junkie financially stable motorcyclist in all of us.
So far, despite its slew of features and that it’s basically giving the same features of a modern car’s dashboard to the motorcyclist, we can’t help but feel uncomfortable about the way it pummels the wearer with all this stimuli. Though for the motorcyclists who do text or call and ride, I suppose this helmet at least provides the safest way to do so.
Source: Mashable
