BMW Motorrad shows off helmet with head-up display at CES 2016

Dubbed ConnectedRide, BMW Motorrad’s head-up display helmet aims to streamline the flow of information, allowing the rider to keep his or her eyes on the next corner and the vagaries of traffic, rather than spending precious seconds glancing down at gauges and mirrors. Available information on the HUD includes speed, tire pressure, oil/fuel level, and selected gear. As with BMW’s automotive HUD units, the helmet’s display can also show speed-limit and road-hazard warnings.

All displays are freely programmable, as the unit is fitted with an integrated mini-computer and loudspeakers, is controlled from the left-hand handlebar fittings using the BMW Motorrad multicontroller.

Then there’s the laser-light technology on the K 1600 GTL concept, a forked version of the same system found on current BMW automobiles like the new 7-Series as well as the i8. The laser-light headlights generate a particularly bright and pure-white light, achieving a high-beam range of up to 600 meters, in the process – double than the distance achieved by conventional lights. As a result, BMW says the safety of night-time riding has now increased significantly, along with the precise illumination of the road. 

BMW Motorrad acknowledges that, at the moment, the laser-light technology is apparently too-cost intensive to implement in motorcycles. But, they added, the large-scale usage in the automobile industry could bring the price of the technology down eventually.

We should point out that American startup Skully currently makes an augmented reality helmet that you can buy right now for $1,499 (about Rs 1 lakh) with an estimated delivery this summer. But BMW Motorrad’s integration of the helmet HUD with the motorcycle through the factory handlebar controls is still a notable step in the right direction.