In a world where technology is constantly changing and adapting to our needs and ever changing use cases, we become eager to anticipate the next need and how to solve for it. Lots of work has been done in the space of Head-Up Displays found within a vehicle. I believe all of us have experienced it now at a given time and are familiar with the concept of having needed information projected onto your windshield while keep your eyes up and alert. At the time of this project, not much work had been done yet for our two wheelers.

You don’t have to be a rider yourself to know how vastly different the experience is from driving a car to riding a motorcycle. Within the vehicle you have the luxury of space, protection and time. On a motorcycle even the tiniest of pebbles could wound you greatly should you not have the appropriate gear on. But the biggest differentiator is what sits directly between you and the vehicle in front of you on the road. In a car you have the windshield, on a motorcycle it’s just your helmet. So how can we bring together this amazing technology we have living within our vehicles into the space of a motorcycle?

You probably guessed it, and you’re right! We explored the idea of bringing that technology into the helmet experience. This technology if you know isn’t quite new. It’s actually been around for years in the field of aerospace. Jet pilots use it all the time so why hadn’t anyone thought of another use-case beyond its original intended one? That’s a loaded questions but we were excited to be at the forefront of this development.

Together with my team, we looked closely at a day in the life of a rider to fully understand their immediate needs throughout their journey. From the moment you put on your helmet all the way to the end of their destination. What opportunities did we have here to not only enhance their experience but also provide a layer of safety. Another layer of complexity we had to examine closely is the idea of having digital content in such close proximity to the eye. We created AR prototypes that allowed us to test our designs and motion on the fly and edit accordingly. We evaluated the type of information that would be useful throughout the journey and designed it in such a way that only the needed info remained present while incoming and outgoing info only remained for the duration needed. This allows the rider to not feel overwhelmed by the constant visual stimuli being fed to them.

Final Output: CES 2016

Role: Lead UI / Motion Designer