NO MIRRORS! MINI CAM & LCD DISPLAY - CHEAP!

[OB_redelk]

A while back, Mr. Bear started a thread on replacing the rear view mirrors with a camera / LCD display set-up. I spent some time trying to find a company that could do this. These guys might be it. They specialize in helmet cams for kayaker, rock climbers and various other extreme sports. I got this e-mail today.

Dear Red Elk,

I have talked to the tech guys and their eyes lit up with all the different systems that they came up with.

The coolest system would be a retinal imaging system that takes the video image and "projects" it directly onto the retina. It has just recently been demilitirized and can be made available for retail sale. I am unsure of the costs, but if you guys are interested I could find out, ballpark price somewhere between $400 and $4000. That is the best we can do for a price on that right now.

We also have access to flat lcd screen that could be hard mounted onto the bike. WE could equip the camera, (black and white) with infared sensors so that it can see even at nite. Yes the whole system can be made to run off a 12 volt system.

There is also the option of going with a heads up display that could project in image into a special eyepiece that could be
integrated safely into a helmet system.

We already make a cool cylindrical ruggedized camera housing and would have to develop a sleek easy to mount lcd screen that is also waterproof onto the bike.

Bottom line, we can definitely do this, and do it to meet a variety of budgets depending on the system that is wanted. We manufacture ALL of our integrations inhouse. We also do a wide variety of wireless applications if you can think of any use for it for your applications.

Please let me know if we can be of help. If you are interested and want to post some infomation, I can send you a url contact or futher information in zipped format.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Shawn
Extreme Camera Systems Inc.
Spire Research Inc.
extreme@zoolink.com
604-727-15151



[This message has been edited by redelk (edited 21 February 2000).]

[OB_KawAbuser]

Seen their stuff at the NY show, perfect to see ZX12's get small, small, smaller, gone.

The camera was real small and light, next it will be Late Night w David Letterman

STUPID BIKE TRICKS

and bike mounted SHOW YOUR TITS SIGN for LOUDON/LACONIA.

[OB_Cisco San Jose]

Go to X10.com look at their cameras,cheap cost under a $100 for a micro color unit with sender and receiver.You can take the unit apart yourself and try various combo of housing and make yourself a pretty cheap setup and all you need is one of those 3" or 4" TFT crystal display TV's for around $100 and figure out a good mounting setup and for about under $275 you can have a good proto type unit.Just remember you will be in beta stage and updates will come along as you get better mounting and testing your configuration.Good Luck

[Guest]

Will this work for a display

http://www.microopticalcorp.com/

[OB_CaveDweller]

Found this while following one of Ciscos posts. I wonder if these guys could be talked into integrating the rear-view video into their product.

http://www.americanmotor.com/Products/details/details.cfm?productid=115

Just a thought. instead of moving the rear view (video) onto the dash, move the indicators out to the mirror and augment the mirror with video display.

[OB_CaveDweller]

BTW... There is a lot of human factors research in the area of teleoperation of robots for space and underwater applications. The studies try to optimize the virtual experience for the remote operators by proper arrangement of video displays that show images taken from cameras mounted to the robot. The goal is to provide the operator with improved situational awareness. It turns out that humans rely heavily on the orientation of the body (ie look left to see whats left, behind to see whats behind) to rapidly and intuitively assimilate their environment. When the workload goes up (lots of changes in the images) the operator quickly saturates (more quickly, the less intuitive the display environment) and becomes directionally confused.

I think the rear view video is a cool idea and I'd love to have one myself. I think the research suggests that it would only be useful as a cruising tool (low workload, little change in position of objects in display). Most of the research says that in a crisis and/or where quick decisions need to be made, you'll be much better off (and probably reflex to) just turning your head around to look left, right, and behind you.

some links if you're interested...

http://ranier.hq.nasa.gov/telerobotics_page/telerobotics.shtm

http://www.ssl.umd.edu/homepage/Projects/RangerTSX/RangerTSX.html

[OB_redelk]

Needless to say, the $400 to $4000 is for the ultimate "gizmo guy". I do agree, unless your a former Apache or jet pilot and used to a monocle or heads-up display, it would be a visual overload. I also agree that a dash mounted LCD screen could be difficult too. I do believe one could get used to the display though.

I'm still going to consider that route, for a couple of reasons. One, it's not as expensive as I thought. A couple 100 bucks should produce a good set-up, where ever it come from. Two, the appearance factor (especially with the 12R ant the mirrors that look like they came off a '50 Caddy bumper). Three, and most important to me, light reflection from cars behind me at night. I have been blinded countless times by cars that get right behind me at night.

Since I usually ride back highways with no other source of light (i.e. streetlights, businesses, homes, etc.), this is a real problem. The car's headlights will blind me and I have trouble seeing what's in front of me.

I also wear eyeglasses, which combines with a visor, sometimes refracts the light refected from my mirrors. Since I can't see well, I slow down, they get even closer, the glare gets worse... well, you get the idea.

[OB_Cisco San Jose]

The reason for the camera and video display is to remove the mirrors to reduce any high speed resistance and to give the bike more of a modern look and Hitech lay out.Same thing will happen when you use LED lighs and fiber optic to reduce weight and reduce power output loss when using standard bulbs.

[OB_Philo McGiffin]

I read somewhere that the 'Busa is faster (top speed) with mirrors than without... something about the full aero package as an integrated item...

[OB_CaveDweller]

A bunch of my co-workers and I were discussing this at lunch on Friday. The "marketing guy" suggested we differentiate between what people "need" and what they "want" from this rearward looking device. The consensus was that we "need" information (to know the relative position and speed of objects outside of our forward looking field of view). In addition, we "want" to see a video presentation of this rearward field of view (all the raw data). I assume here that we still have mirrors on the bike.

We concluded that a simpler top-down radar style view could possibly meet the essential information needs and be much less confusing than the video (with all the raw data). It would have you at the center and present all the moving vehicles around you by size and speed as indicated by their color (like a jet pilots attack radar system). Since the presentation format (looking down) matches the riders physical orientation, it should be very intuitive and give you a real quick presentation of what you need to know (ie. who is where and how fast are they closing).

The product would not be too expensive (< $500.00) but it would be much more complicated than a camera and a pocket TV so it would require some engineering.

Of course Cisco is right about the mirrors.
If your goal is to get rid of the mirrors, then I suppose it would be hard to get by without the video.


[This message has been edited by CaveDweller (edited 28 February 2000).]