This new bike light could help build smart cities
Developed by Queen's University Belfast and See.Sense, it can tell authorities if roads need fixing and alert your emergency contact if you suffer a fall.
As it turns out, the roads of the future could be mapped with bike lights. Kind of.
Ireland's Queen's University and See.Sense have developed a smart bike light that can see and analyse the road a biker rides on, and send out alerts to relevant authorities if said roads need fixing. Plus, if you tumble and fall, the phone-connected light will call an emergency contact for you.
Queen's University said it hopes the bike light can help pave the way for smart cities.
"The light will also identify hotspots or places that cyclists should take extra care with, when in a particular environment or location," Professor Adele Marshall said. "This information could also be used by a local council to identify when a road needs to be repaired or when improvements to infrastructure should be made. This early identification will make our roads and infrastructure safer and help cities to use their resource budgets more efficiently."
Other smart bike tech comes in the form of the Leco Smart Road or Mountain Bike, which both have 4-inch touchscreens that give navigation and track fitness. Then there's Well Lattis' Ellipse smart bike locks, which claim to secure your bike like an armored car.