The engineers and designers at SmartHalo are passionate about bicycling as a way of life. They feel their bikes lead the way to healthy living, a cleaner environment and smaller city footprints. In a big city making a trip by bike instead of car can be faster, and the cost of operation is less both for the bike owners and the city’s infrastructure. The belief that cities need to be greener and more accessible to bikes led the team to create the SmartHalo, an interactive biking device. The group is back with the redesigned SmartHalo 2, and a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
SmartHalo 2 is a navigation device that includes a 110 db anti-theft alarm, a front light, and fitness metrics. When a cyclist hops on the bike the device displays its pre-programmed start animation and it turns off after the ride is finished. If a user is tracking a fitness goal the display can show progress, and a pulse can be shown to indicate that a call is incoming. The PeekDisplay in the middle of the halo is programmable from the Android 5 and iOS 11 compatible app, with a 128x64 OLED screen inside a halo of 24 RGB LEDs. Navigation can choose the recommended, safest, flattest or fastest route for the user. Compass mode lets the user choose how to get to a destination and turns greener as the user gets closer. The 250 lumen white LED light has three modes - normal, blinking and pulse. The light is on when riding, on in the dark, and on when activated by the user. The 2000 milliAmpere hour battery is expected to last two weeks on a charge.
What sells the SmartHalo 2 beyond these features is its minimalist non-intrusive design. The device is 70 x 110 x 24 millimeters in size and weighs 153 grams with the AntiTheft Mount, with the housing rated as ip66 waterproof. The system fits 22.2, 254, and 31.8 millimeter handlebars. The Electronic Device and Method for Providing Travel Information patent, granted in 2017, shows the low profile and quick connection method that is present on this new model as well. The first device has also been carried in Apple stores, and I can easily see the SmartHalo 2 fitting in with the store’s sleek minimal design aesthetic. I love the idea that this team of engineers wants cleaner cities and their contribution is to making bicycling more fun. This Kickstarter campaign has blown by all of its funding goals, has an incredibly active Comment Section and FAQ page, and will end on July 2, 2019.