SMART: LifeBEAM to Make The World’s First Smart Cycling Helmet
/March 9, 2013
Zvika and Omri – two of my Singularity University friends, as well as co-founders of LifeBEAM Technologies, are planning to produce the world’s first smart cycling helmet.
The helmet is taking cutting edge tech from the defense and aerospace industries with integrated heart rate sensor, allowing real time, accurate, hassle-free heart-rate monitoring.
Now, you can say that I am supporting these two guys because they are my friends – and you will be right. However, I am also a cyclist who is totally fed up with the 30-year-old chest strap technology of all other heart rate monitors currently available on the market.
So, I am also supporting them because I think that LifeBEAM not only has a great cycling product but also the right team to work through all the prototype-phase-glitches and bring a top-notch product to market, at an affordable cost.
That is why I support SMART – The world’s first smart cycling helmet.
If you are a cyclist looking for the best in heart rater monitoring, I suggest you do that too:
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/61115832[/vimeo]
LifeBEAM is proud to present SMART –
The world’s first smart cycling helmet with an integrated heart rate sensor, allowing real time, accurate, hassle-free heart-rate monitoring without using a chest strap!
The SMART platform is lightweight and incorporates a microprocessor integrated with LifeBEAM’s advanced algorithm, a state-of-the-art optical physiological sensor, accelerometer, and full wireless communication capabilities.
We Need Your Help!
While we have experience in the Aerospace industry, this is our first consumer facing product, and we need your help to make it a success!
The SMART Solution
We integrated our unique sensor & algorithms, originally developed for fighter pilots & astronauts, into the Lazer’s GENESIS helmet resulting in the SMART – a cycling helmet that provides highly accurate, real time measurements of heart rate under normal as well as extreme physiological conditions without the problems inherent to chest straps.
The information gathered by the SMART appears in real time on your mobile phone, sport watch or cycling computer via ANT+ or Bluetooth.
Our sensing technology was built for intense activities in extreme environments and demonstrated highly accurate results compared to the most reliable ECG chest belts in market. It is, therefore, suitable for high performance athletes in any cycling environment.
Heart-Rate Monitoring
Cyclists who want to monitor and improve their performance cannot ignore their heart rate. Personal heart-rate provides a window to individual’s overall fitness.
Heart rate is commonly monitored using chest straps. Fitness watches, cycling computers & smartphones – all provide a platform that can communicate with a chest strap and display heart rate.
But what if you hate wearing that strap around your chest for hours? Straps can chafe, irritate, lose contact and migrate. We now offer the perfect solution – the SMART.
What do you get with SMART?
The SMART will arrive to you ready-to-use with no assembly required.
The systems includes:
- Lazer Sport GENESIS helmet integrated with LifeBEAM sensing technology
- LifeBEAM’s physiological sensor & processing unit:
- Integrated 3-axis accelerometer
- Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+ Wireless Communication capabilities
- Rechargeable Lithium battery – at least 15 hours of continuous usage
- Weight: 50 grams (0.132 lbs.)
From Aerospace to Cycling
LifeBEAM is a startup company comprised of engineers and pilots, passionate about the development of physiological monitoring solutions. We specialize in remote monitoring of multi-physiological parameters, such as heart-rate, blood flow, oxygen saturation and more.
Our first development was a unique miniature sensing platform that was implemented into fighter pilot and astronaut helmets, to monitor their physiological conditions, help them perform better, and in extreme cases – even save lives.
Now you can use this technology during cycling!
What could be simpler than putting on your SMART cycling helmet integrated with our small and almost invisible sensor, and continuously monitoring your heart rate?!
Technology – main features & benefits
LifeBEAM’s core sensing technology is based on state of the art non-invasive optical methods, using miniature components that allow unobtrusive & continuous physiological monitoring. These unique sensing methods enable a high-accuracy measurement of various physiological parameters.
LifeBEAM’s main technological expertise creates applicative solutions that are significantly insensitive to motion artifacts and thus can be used in dynamic environments and under extreme conditions.
So what’s so cool about SMART?
SMART uses electro-optical technology to continuously measure your heart-rate.
The optical sensor is placed on the helmet’s front, gently touching your forehead. The sensor samples the blood pulse in a high frequency and transmits a raw signal to the processing unit, which is placed in the helmet’s back.
The processing unit filters the signal from motion artifacts and, using the communication module, wirelessly transmits the cleansed pulse to your display device in real-time.
AND…YES, IT WORKS WITH MOST DEVICES AND APPS IN THE MARKET!
The SMART is compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 & ANT+ devices – smartphones, fitness watches, cycling computers – and works with most fitness applications, so use your favorite display device or smartphone app for additional functions, such as: average speed, distance, pace, GPS, calories-burned, etc.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/ZcG_RWZYUwk[/youtube]
Future Developments
We plan to continue developing the SMART, keeping it up to date with the ever-changing technologies, in order to provide the best and most cutting-edge product for our customers.
Integrating a processing unit and wireless communication capabilities opens the door for various additional sensors & features that will be processed in the helmet and transmitted wirelessly to any place!
A few examples for some optional future implementations:
- Additional Functions: Stand-alone device, Crash detection, Bicycle locator, integration with Cycling training apps for additional parameters and more!
- Advanced display capabilities: head up display capabilities just like in fighter pilots helmets!
- Additional Sensors: GPS, SIM, Logger and more!
- Sound feedback features.
Prototyping process
After successfully monitoring a pilot’s vitals, LifeBEAM wanted to expand and reach new horizons.
On one of their weekend rides, two engineers from our team modified our technology and integrated it into their cycling helmets.
Excited by the outcome and the idea of combining our technology with their love of cycling, they convinced the team to pursue their dream.
On the following 6 months, the R&D team worked together to amend the algorithms to suit the cycling environment and develop a kit that could be integrated into a professional cycling helmet while prolonging the battery life, maximizing the duration between charges, and without adding unnecessary weight.
After numerous testing iterations & prototype improvements, we were ready to choose the right helmet-manufacturing partner.
Cooperation with LAZER SPORT
Lazer is one of the top cycling helmet manufacturers in the world with over 90 years of experience (the oldest helmet manufacturers still operating).
With its headquarter in Belgium, Lazer designs, manufactures and markets helmets in more than 50 countries.
Lazer’s GENESIS cycling helmet (in Canada also called GS) is one of the most popular helmets in the world.
Helmet spec:
- Fit System: Rollsys® Retention System
- Construction: In-Mold (6 pieces)
- Ventilation: 19 vents
- Weight: 280g (0.617 lbs) (M) CE
- Certification: CE – CPSC – AS
- Sizes: M-L
Many great champions teamed up with Lazer along the years.
Awards & Recognitions
In 2010, LifeBEAM won the national innovation contest “Ramon Breakthrough”, sponsored by Google and represented Israel at Singularity program at NASA Ames in Silicon Valley.
In 2012, we were honored to participate in NASA’s R&D activity, where our unique sensors were used and tested during different research activities.
In addition, we have performed a joint research at the European Flights training facility in the Netherlands and with a number of Air Forces around the world.
Rewards/Pricing
We created a great list of exciting perks that will allow you to enjoy our forthcoming product & technology while supporting our efforts.
The Pioneer Deal: Early Bird (200 available) – $149
The SMART Package: Own a SMART – $189
The Gift package: Surprise your friend with a SMART Gift– $195
The Buddies package: Order 2 SMARTS with your friend or ride buddy – $358
The Group package: Order 5 SMARTS for your cycling group – $845
The Silver Distributor package: Order 20 SMARTS – $2,780
The Gold Distributor package: Order 50 SMARTS – $6,450
Use of Funds
We are asking for your help so we can produce the first run of the SMART and deliver them to our initial customers. If you love cycling, sports, or fitness in general, we would love your support so we can bring the SMART helmet to market and further implement our technologies in new products in the future.
Join Our Ride!
Our team developed the groundbreaking technology, but in order to bring it to mass production … we need your help!
We ask you to help us elevate our project from a working prototype to its final production stage.
We welcome you to join our ride! Thanks for your support!!!
