Beijing based startup IN SENTH has been cooking up an interesting concept in cycling specific augmented reality eyewear. The SENTH IN1 AR glasses have been simmering over several years of development (the first concepts for the design were in 2012) and four rounds of functional prototypes and are finally ready for public consumption. This system keeps your eyes on the road and off of your handlebars, supplementing your existing riding experience with smart interfacing with your phone and existing ANT+ sensors…
The SENTH IN1 Augmented Reality system has been designed to do it all. The eyewear comes packaged with an array of lenses to support sunny daytime to low light conditions. The display is mounted at the end of an arm on the right side of the glasses, an arm which also contains a camera, battery, microphone, a manual touch controller, and audio output. The whole system folds up when not in use, so you can keep it in a smaller case.
It displays data from your existing ANT+ or Bluetooth 4.0 compatible sensors, outputting speed, cadence, distance, etc., as you ride. It also syncs with your phone to help navigate and keep you abreast of incoming calls and messages.
You can choose to interface with your SENTH IN1 in a variety of ways. There is a button pad that mounts to your handlebars which you can either tap or roll your finder over to select options on your display. If your touch pad is not attached to the cycle you’re on, you can manually scroll through the menu utilizing a local controller on the side of the arm. If you’re not a tactile person, you have the option of speaking to the device through a series of programmed commands to help navigate.
There are several interesting experiential features also. You can listen to music through the device to liven up your ride. You can also take and post photos or videos utilizing the display. There is also a danger detection function which seeks out and identifies oncoming cars or obstacles in case you can’t see them. The device is interesting because it is so social and interactive in ways that both are and are not necessarily competition based. There is a function that shows you where other cyclists are nearby on a map so you can meet up with them and ride together. And if you’re in a special physical location, you can leave notes for others to see and read.
If you move quickly, you can take advantage of the “Fastest Bird” discount, $199 for a SENTH IN1 system (SENTH IN1, IN1 thumb controller, four interchangeable lens) in your choice of black or white frames, though more colors will be available if stretch goals are met.
