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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 7 - Fighter pilots have long been able to view flight data projected onto jet
windshields within their line of sight. Soon recreational motorcyclists and bicyclists will be able
to take advantage of that technology.
Motion Research, a Seattle company founded in 1993 by a former racecar driver, Dominic Dobson, said
that next spring it would begin selling an inexpensive information display system to be attached to
a motorcycle helmet.
The Sportvue head-mounted display will allow riders to see speed, r.p.m. and gear position without
taking their eyes off the road. The system gathers speed information from a global positioning
satellite receiver attached to the rear of the helmet.
The design, based on a patent co-developed by Tom Furness, one of the pioneers of head-mounted
display technology, uses a lens and mirror and backlit liquid crystal display to give the viewer the
illusion that the information displayed in the periphery of one eye is projected in the distance.
Mr. Dobson founded Motion Research when he was racing Indianapolis and Formula One cars, and his
initial idea was to use the display technology for racecar drivers. But the cost of producing
such displays was prohibitively high a decade ago. He retired in 1998 and recently picked the
idea up again because the costs of the technology have fallen significantly.
"We realized we could build it far more cheaply today," he said. "Not much changed in the technology
itself. What happened was the cost of manufacturing changed."
Today, he said, the technology is beginning to appear in the consumer market, both in wearable
systems and in some cars, like certain models of the Cadillac with systems that project driving
information onto the windshield.
But Motion Research will be the first company to attempt a truly low-cost consumer application. The
price of the motorcycle Sportvue will be from $249 to $349.
The bicycle version of Sportvue, which will be introduced sometime after the motorcycle system, will
project speed, distance traveled and heart rate information, like current cyclometers, and be from
$150 to $199, Mr. Dobson said. He said the company was also in discussions with helmet manufacturers
to integrate the display systems into helmets.
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