10mo ago

Why are there no commercially available helmets with HUD's?

Although there are some in development. But would you be interested in something like this?

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49 comments

Motorcycle helmets? Sounds like a great way to become an organ donor.
- Doing it right can actually prevent organ donations. Like having speed shown without the need to take eyes away from road.
  
  Ok. Limited HUD I agree would be useful.
  
  a HUD would be more in your field of vision in terms of the X and Y dimensions, but in the Z dimension, depth, in the worst place of all.
  Focusing your eyes an inch away from your face is, unfortunately, taking your eyes off the road. The closer something is to you, the greater and greater focal length change is required. Switching between road vision and 1-inch off your face is much much harder than switching between road vision and 24-inches away from your face (where conventional speed dials are, on the handlebars).
  It’s not just about the time and effort it takes to do this. When your eyes are focused 1inch away, everything on the road will be super blurry. When your eyes are focused 24 inches away, the road will not be as blurry, and it’s easier for your eyes to jump back onto the road.
  
  That's not how HUDs work. The image is ~~protected~~ projected so it appears far away.
  
  That’s how VR works but these little nubs on your helmet aren’t projecting directly into your eye. They are projecting onto your visor.
  
  I dunno, if you're relying on a number to determine if you are proceeding at a safe speed, I am a bit skeptical you have sufficient mastery of whatever motor vehicle you are operating.
  Just as if you're relying on a speed limit sign & law enforcement to control what speed drivers go rather than road design feedback, you have insufficient mastery of your engineering trade.
  https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/6/22/facing-an-uncomfortable-truth-about-speed-limits
  
  Did you mean to come off sounding like a pretentious douche?
  
  Literally everyone uses the Speedo. This is such a weird comment tbh.
  
  He's right though. Conditions on the road and your speed relative to other drivers really matter. Your visibility forward really matters.
  Also roads suck and are hostile to pedestrians in too many places.
  
  Indeed. But in normal conditions the main thing you want to do is not break the speed limit. In sensible places the speed limits are usually lower than the maximum safe speed.
  
  The safe driving speed isn't a single number. It will drop in certain conditions and people need to be able to read the road to drive safely.
  
  They also need to know their speed to drive safely.
  
  ... Yeah and that's not the only important thing.
  You know if you are going fast relative to other drivers without a speedometer.
  You know about how fast you are going without a speedometer. 40 or 60 or 80 feel different to drive.
  Don't just rely on a number to drive. Ask yourself, can I see well up ahead? Would I have time to stop if someone pulled out from a blind spot? Are there pedestrians or children I should be mindful of?
  Like if you don't give a fuck and you'll rely on insurance and following the law to protect you, bully for you.
  Pay attention to the road.
  
  Never said it was the only important thing.
  
  Are you trying to argue that speedometers are unnecessary?
  
  No they are. A poorly trained driver that is just following the speed limit is also dangerous.
  
  It's not about going a safe speed, it's about going a legal speed. I feel safe going 100+ in a 70mph zone when there aren't other vehicles around but it ain't exactly legal so I often check my speed, that momentary look down would be prevented with a HUD.
  
  Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me. Speed limits themselves are only very loosely related to safety (85th percentile rule and civil engineering voodoo science) and the speedometer is more about staying on the right side of the police state when confronted with roads that overwhelmingly signal to drivers that they should be going WAY faster than is legal.
  And even then those speed limits, at least outside of the comparative safety of highways, are almost always set well higher than what is actually safe for the neighborhood or useful to keep the traffic network freeflowing.

49 comments