Okay so they've got these "Pimpstar" car wheels with fairly mindless programmable messages:
Then there are these BlueGear self-reporting fans, cooling fans for gaming PCs that numerically display the rotation speed and temperature (of the hard drive, I'm assuming):
So I got to thinking: Is it possible to install some combination of these on bicycle wheels that could display information that's actually useful to pedestrians? For example, let's say every other bicycle you saw had a wheel that displayed the current temperature or even a primitive icon-based weather forecast for the next few hours.
Granted if every urban cyclist had one of these, it would become another data-overload item we'd learn to block out, but for the first few months it might be an interesting way to draw attention to bicycles and get more people thinking about them (hopefully as an alternative means of transport, not a display item for a silhouette of a sexy mud-flap woman). Just a thought.
Hokey Spokes is the original POV bicycle safety light for your spokes. There are some cheap imitations like the one for $8.60 mentioned above; and Monkey Lights that are twice the money and are not waterproof.
Hokey Spokes address all of these issues, are well designed, and work on any bicycle wheel 24-inches and larger.
They are often available at a Buy Two Get One Free offer. So watch for it! One year warranty with good customer support and service. They even post a real phone number so you can call them with any questions not answered on their web site.
Reader's Digest selected Hokey Spokes last year for their Holiday Gift Guide!
Just like under-the-car fluorescent lighting, distracting light shows on your car have always been frowned upon. I really wish people were using technology to further our race and not distracting drivers on the motorway at 75 Mph.
1) those Fan's display the RPM of the fan. When's the last time you heard of a HDD spinning at 1710 RPMs? so the parenthetical comment is both inaccurate and useless.
Sorry, I just get annoyed about many designer's horrible lack of knowledge on anything tech.
Programable ones do exist, the only one I know of is made by CoolJag, but i'm sure there are a few more. Although not utilizing same technology, I think Logisys has the best implementation of with its "stove fan" (merely a description of its look, not application): http://bit.ly/c6x8L6
2) This already exists on bikes
here is an example from 2005 of bike spokes with POV being used: http://bit.ly/a9BpAk
He notes he referenced a deign from 2003/2004today you can get these commercial available, via MonkeyLectric and Adafruit Industries
heres a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT13ZcpwYtA
I could see the strips of LEDs being upgrade to a thin strips of OLED panel to reduce weight and size on greatly increase image quality.
Your ideas of using it as a public service is interesting though, although most that would employ this would probably use it for their own personal designs or advertising.
I think, if implemented in a more subtle and classy way it would look coolest on Motorcycles, specifically crotch rockets. color could correlate with speed and intensity could respond to acceleration. same could apply on bikes as well. both which need more awareness in motor vehiclists.
If design is moving towards being more user-centered should product designers be defining what we think is "good taste" for consumers or designing for existing consumers taste?Who owns good taste?
An interesting idea, but you may have issues with the rotation speed of the wheels. Even though racing bicycles can get up to 60mph, the average cyclist travels at about 10mph. With a traditional bike, you won't get the wheel spinning fast enough to create the illusion of an image.
The same system for bike wheels already exists: http://www.ladyada.net/make/spokepov/
It's my experience that they look good in a dark room on a photo with long exposure, but in real life a normal sized bike wheel turns much too slow to get the effect. I've seen a few of them in the wild, and none of them had the desired effect.
But maybe it would work if they were used on those foldable bikes with tiny wheels.
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Hokey Spokes address all of these issues, are well designed, and work on any bicycle wheel 24-inches and larger.
They are often available at a Buy Two Get One Free offer. So watch for it! One year warranty with good customer support and service. They even post a real phone number so you can call them with any questions not answered on their web site.
Reader's Digest selected Hokey Spokes last year for their Holiday Gift Guide!
Enjoy!
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27255
- Displays Time Riding & Wheel Rotations
- 36 design patterns and five word patterns, patterns change every three seconds
$8.60 delivered - no, I don't work for them.
Just like under-the-car fluorescent lighting, distracting light shows on your car have always been frowned upon. I really wish people were using technology to further our race and not distracting drivers on the motorway at 75 Mph.
Sorry, I just get annoyed about many designer's horrible lack of knowledge on anything tech.
Programable ones do exist, the only one I know of is made by CoolJag, but i'm sure there are a few more. Although not utilizing same technology, I think Logisys has the best implementation of with its "stove fan" (merely a description of its look, not application): http://bit.ly/c6x8L6
2) This already exists on bikes
here is an example from 2005 of bike spokes with POV being used: http://bit.ly/a9BpAk
He notes he referenced a deign from 2003/2004today you can get these commercial available, via MonkeyLectric and Adafruit Industries
heres a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT13ZcpwYtA
I could see the strips of LEDs being upgrade to a thin strips of OLED panel to reduce weight and size on greatly increase image quality.
Your ideas of using it as a public service is interesting though, although most that would employ this would probably use it for their own personal designs or advertising.
I think, if implemented in a more subtle and classy way it would look coolest on Motorcycles, specifically crotch rockets. color could correlate with speed and intensity could respond to acceleration. same could apply on bikes as well. both which need more awareness in motor vehiclists.
Would we give this one a design award?
http://bit.ly/bvYU5i
It's my experience that they look good in a dark room on a photo with long exposure, but in real life a normal sized bike wheel turns much too slow to get the effect. I've seen a few of them in the wild, and none of them had the desired effect.
But maybe it would work if they were used on those foldable bikes with tiny wheels.