Smart Windshield is concept for motorbike rider safety

Smart Windshield is concept for motorbike rider safety

The obvious advice for bike riders as well as car drivers is the same: stay focused. Avoid messaging and phone calls that could take your mind off the most important activity facing you, handling the car or bike on the road. And yet many drivers of all ages allow themselves to be distracted by smartphones.

Samsung earlier this month issued a video that indicates they have been thinking along the line of a solution that can avoid dangerous distractions. They said the "new concept" in road safety is in the form of "the smart windshield."

Motorcycle riders would have a windshield connecting with their smartphones, with a dedicated app and wi-fi connection. They would be able to keep both hands on the handlebars.

So now it is more than windshield; the Samsung concept has it also performing as a safety device. You get to receive notifications, but to check them out on your smartphone you just need to look ahead and you can visualize navigation. You know who is calling; you can decide if you want to stop and answer or send an automatic message that you are on the road.

Dennis Chung in Motorcycle.com said, "The Smart Windshield shows information on a screen build into the shield itself. The screen is transparent and located low on the shield so it doesn't obscure the rider's vision."

The running line on all the video's shots says this is a concept and not a product for sale.

At least as a concept, is it something to anticipate with open arms?

Some reader reactions to the video were positive but not all. Among the comments:

"...notices for calls and text that's the last thing I need at 200 km/h."

"Are you kidding me?"

"YES! Please put this on the market. Waiting lists for people needing organ donors are still so long."

Interestingly, Engadget's view was favorable toward the idea. The Autoblog article was headlined "Samsung Smart Windshield needs to go into production ASAP." The article said, "While we're tempted to say something like this could distract a rider, let's not pretend that plenty of people aren't already listening to music, glancing at a navigation system or even reading a set of directions printed on paper and attached to the tank or strapped on a wrist."

The article commented: "Every once in a while, a comes along that makes so much sense you wonder why it doesn't already exist. The Samsung Smart Windshield is one such example. While technology for cars and trucks seems to move at a fever pitch, advancing what's possible each and every year, motorcycles just don't see the same type of advancement. It's time for that to change."

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Citation: Smart Windshield is concept for motorbike rider safety (2016, March 29) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2016-03-smart-windshield-concept-motorbike-rider.html
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