Mar 24, 2017

Swarm Intelligence or One More Distraction?

img_2016_12_02_demobike_cluster_1_en-onlineDataContinental is hyping a product called eHorizon that supposedly will “enable motorcyclists to see around corners.” Theoretically, eHorizon “informs bikers in advance of obstacles along their route such as road works, accidents, oil or water on the road, or traffic jams and enhances safety not only for them but also for other road users.” The options are going to be a display that will sit somewhere on your motorcycle’s console or a (gag, hack, puke, etc) phone app.

2 comments:

Norskie said...

Distraction. A good motorcyclist needs to be able to ride within both their and the environment's limits .. which includes whatever may be around the next corner, whether it's deer, car in the opposite lane or a forest fire. Would something like this dull our skills, the way traction control (and some other electronic aids) have? Eyes should be on the road, not the instrument cluster.

Furthermore ... where we tend to travel and find curvy roads there isn't much traffic (i.e. other users to report problems) nor cell/data service (ability to report and receive alerts).

This is another example of "we have the technology, let's do something with it", even if it is useless.

T.W. Day said...

Yep.