July 14, 2016Update #21 - Production Timeline Update + What if your Lumos Helmet could connect to your phone? Hey everyone, hope all is well! First things first: Production Timeline Update We are slowly but steadily getting closer to shipping helmets to you. We are in the middle of lab testing right now, and nailing down final specifications and details. For example: Strap fabric We’re most likely going to go with this strap fabric. It’s slightly thicker than that of the average helmet and is robust and durable. Adjustment wheel for retention system We are refining the gears in the click wheel at the back of the retention system so that it is not too hard and not too easy to adjust, and gives a satisfying tactile feedback when you adjust it. Moving forward here is how we believe the next few months (based on all the information we have today) will unfold all the way through shipping to backers: July Complete lab testing by end of this month. August Early - mid August we’ll do final production dry runs to iron out the kinks in the system and ensure that we’re getting consistently high quality product off the assembly line. In mid-August we will be updating you with: Detailed pictures of the helmet in Charcoal Black, Pearl White, and Cobalt Blue so you can make your final decision as to which color you want. Prices and details on how to purchase additional remote mounts for those of you who have multiple bikes. Along with that update we will be sending a FINAL SURVEY where you will have an opportunity to (1) Change your color selection if you like, (2) Purchase additional remote mounts, and (3) Confirm your shipping address. Late August we’ll ship our first big batch of approximately 2,000 helmets to backers. Helmets will get shipped in the order that they were placed, as long as you completed the final survey! September In September we should be fully ramped up and we’ll be able to produce and ship approximately 2,500 helmets every 2 weeks. By the end of September we should have shipped out helmets to > 90% of backers if not to all of you! We’re entering the final stretch, so hang in there! We really think that you’re gonna like what you receive. On that note, we have a question for you guys! What if your Lumos Helmet could connect to your phone? During our Kickstarter campaign many backers asked if the Lumos Helmet would be able to connect to a smartphone. It was definitely something that we had thought about carefully before launching on Kickstarter. Connectivity opens up possibilities for new features and interactivity between the user and the helmet, but we decided against promising it on Kickstarter because at the time we did not have the resources in place to execute on that feature, and we were not willing to market something that we did not have a clear plan and high confidence that we could deliver on. But we still really wanted to do it. So we told ourselves that we would work on it on the side. It would be independent of the helmet (and so will not be a source of delay for the main project) and if we develop the app on time, that would make for an awesome added benefit/surprise for our backers (since it was never mentioned as part of the product during our Kickstarter campaign or on our website). And that is exactly what we have done! At Lumos we try to keep things as simple as possible. Start small and focused, and build on it over time. So we defined the simplest app we could think of that was still useful and delivered value. We made a short video to show you what it does: Screens of the app: Our goal in building this app was to let the helmet give you relevant information (ie. battery levels) in a seamless and convenient way. Lumos already makes it more likely that you will always have a great set of lights with you. Now through a bluetooth connection with your iPhone, you can also always be informed when it needs to be charged so that you’re never out of juice. Plus you are able to personalize some basic settings of the helmet! We hope you guys find this cool, but more importantly that you find it useful and that it helps you have a safer ride. Talking about the technology is fun, but if we did our job right, the technology will fade into the background and only be helpful when required, allowing you to focus on what matters more: Enjoying the beauty, simplicity, and sense of freedom that comes with riding your bike. What do you guys think? We would love to get your feedback and you can provide it to us in this survey HERE. Lastly, beta tester stories! We’ve still got beta testers riding with their helmet and we’ve got another of their stories to share with you! Patricia lives in Finland in an area close to the Arctic Circle. She’s been using her Lumos beta helmet almost daily since she got it in January and rode with it all through the Finnish winter. Check out what she had to say about her experience here! Eu-wen, Jeff, and the Lumos Team 17 comments Location and motion sensing: The phone knows where it is and the helmet knows whether it’s moving. So, riffing on that: Simple version – Find My Helmet. “Last connected at 8:37am. Tap to see location.” (Launches Maps app with a pin.) Fancier – Prompt to launch Strava because I’m about to go on a ride. The Strava iOS app can’t do this alone, since the phone’s motion alone may mean I’m walking around. But if the helmet is moving, then 90% of the time that means I’m heading out for a ride. Bonus – Tell IFTTT that I’m heading on a ride. Tom July 29, 2016 I think it would be very interesting to have a connection with my smartfhone. I hope to hear from you soon my helmet. good day ennio derivi July 22, 2016 Sería fantástico q se pudiera conectar al celular.. Estoy loca por recibir mi casco!!! Excelentes upgrades!!!! Keila García Colon July 22, 2016 looking good – really looking forward to its arrival Caroline July 22, 2016 Integration of the smartphone with the Helmet is great. As an avid cyclist, and after seeing your demo with the app, here is a day-dream I had about this integration. If I have a route already planned out on, say, STRAVA, and it’s downloaded into my phone, my phone knows when I’m about to turn left or right or some to a stop sign/light at an intersection and my day-dream wish would be that somehow the Lumos app could integrate with cycling navigation and fitness apps like STRAVA or MapmyRide, and the helmet automatically activates the turn signal, 50-75 feet before the turn. My understanding is that the helmet lights will activate automatically when coming to a stop, right? if so no integration would be needed there, but it would be really cool if the phone told the helmet, based on a pre-defined cycling route I was going to follow on a particular ride, when I was coming to a turn and the helmet activated on it’s own without me having to press the remote on my handbars. OK, that particular Day-Dream is over. Looking forward to receiving my Helmet in September! Lance King July 21, 2016 Cool, super I need the helmet in Sweden, we can sell tousand of them So pleas dont forget me Peter Nipet Peter Langebro July 21, 2016 I love to have the app! Will it be available to Android users soon? Saw on the post tt it is only available to iPhone. Hope to have my belated present for my brother soon! Keep up the good job. Janlyn July 21, 2016 Love the app. Getting more excited every day LJagger July 21, 2016 Thank you for the update. I didn’t know there was sound involved in the blinkers, so it’ll be nice to know I can reduce how many times I have to hear the beep. I’m a little sensitive to certain noises. And since you mentioned the strap… Would it be relatively easy to pull out & re-insert to wash? Those get a little nasty after time & it would be nice to toss it into the wash once in a while to get the sweat, make-up, bugs, etc. off of it. Lastly, I had emailed you once about what the inside of the helmet looks like. I’m looking for a small indentation in the front center for air-flow. Do you happen to have a picture of that yet? I obviously ordered the helmet anyway. I’ve had a few cyclist friends tell me it’s easy to make the indentation myself. Thanks again! I’m excited to get my helmet! Lisa July 21, 2016 It would be neat to had a built in head set that was sync to the phone. For messages, music, calls and alerts. Randy Bucholtz July 21, 2016 sounds good but keep it simple brian long July 21, 2016 The app sounds like an outstanding addition. If the helmet works as well as I’m anticipating, I would be likely to get a few more as gifts! DJ July 21, 2016 Great ideas that you have, how about putting mini speakers in the helmet so you could answer your phone and or listen to music without ear plug type phones that would cause a easier chance of an accident. Roger F. Harrison July 21, 2016 I like the wheel for altering the fit, and it’s always good to have resilient straps. The interview with paricia was very interesting, thanks for that Patricia! It’s always good to get an update, and I’m happy to see you’re taking on board our comments regarding those awful beeps-I really hope that the app allows us to turn them off though, not just reduce them! I didn’t order a ‘sonos’ helmet, after all! :-) as an android user, will therebe any way of muting the beeps prior to the arrival of the app? Thanks for that too, by the way. :-) Jonathan July 21, 2016 Well done. Go for it! Craig Eggers July 21, 2016 Personally, i don’t need the app. You already got me with the more secure blinking helmet. But: to turn that annoying audiosignal completely OFF, i would love to download the app! (Okay, i get why you want the beep, what if someone forgets to turn the turn-signal off. in that case maaaybe a beep every 8 blinks. but i really would love to have the possibility to turn it off completely…) I hope still want to make it possible to order that clear plastic-design you had in one of the other newsupdates, it looks so much better than this slightly dirty-grey looking design you have in your video above. Seeing the electronics under the plastic always fascinated me. Tobi July 21, 2016 Love the new functionality provided by the app. I agree starting simple is the way to go. You can always continue to build it up. Looking forward to using it with the helmet! Douglas July 15, 2016 Leave a comment Name Email Content All comments are moderated before being publishedPost comment
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