Bicyclists Get Hindsight with Cerevellum Device

by Lisa Zyga, Electronic Devices / Consumer & Gadgets

The Cerevellum gives cyclists a rear view of the road.

A start-up company called Cerevellum is developing a cutting-edge bicycle computer that has a first-ever feature: hindsight. The device, also named Cerevellum, provides a digital view of the road to the cyclist's back, eliminating the need for those clip-on mirrors that always fog up and need adjusting.

The device slides onto a holder mounted in the center of the handle bars. The 3.5-inch LCD screen (320x240 pixels) provides standard readings such as speed, distance, and heart rate, and also has GPS features. But the most unique feature is the rear-view video, giving cyclists ´eyes in the back of their heads' and making bike rides on busy streets safer.

The Cerevellum has slots on the back where USB modules are inserted. Some of the modules include ´hindisight´ (the rear-view feature), GPS, and 'flight-deck', which may offer electronic gear-shifting in the future. The module set-up ensures that the Cerevellum device won't become obsolete in a few years.

The hindsight feature presents real-time video that isn´t affected by road vibrations or the cyclist´s position. For capturing video, a lens can be mounted either on the back of the seat post or on the end of a handlebar.

The device is powered by a lithium-ion battery, which lasts for about four hours with the hindsight video, or 16 hours with the other features. It also has a 32MB RAM card that allows users to save their workout data and transfer to a PC.

While it´s not available for sale yet, the company estimates that the main unit will cost about $300, with the modules ranging in price from $60 for the standard cyclometer module, $200 for GPS, and $800 for the power meter.

The device was originally conceived by Evan Solida as an Industrial Design student at Purdue University, but expounded upon more in the past couple years. Solida and partner Craig Appaneal, the founders of Cerevellum, explain that they've finished the design process, and hope to exhibit the device at Interbike or Eurobike 2008.

More information: www.cerevellum.com

Via: Gizmodo

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Posted by HarryStottle 12/17/07 19:23

Rank: 4/5 after 2 votes

and they haven't included an option to charge it from the bike in motion?? Strange oversight. Otherwise neat. Though I don't recall having much of a problem with my mirrors misting. Can't argue about the additional air resistance though...

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Posted by joefarah 12/19/07 13:21

Rank: 2/5 after 1 vote

Exactly the comment I was going to make - let's charge it from the bike in motion.

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Posted by mysticfree 12/21/07 11:30

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My company develops vision systems for cars. Our devices are similar to the one shown here and need 12 volts with 1/3 to 1/2 amp of current to run. My guess as to why Cerevellum doesn't use a bike generator is the cost of providing a clean power source to their display. Such a generator would have to put out constant power, free of noise, spikes and sags, regardless of the biker's speed. It is do-able but probably online for future versions of their system.

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Posted by ShadowRam 12/31/07 10:34

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You don't have to fully power the device Mysticfree...

There's nothing wrong with a small generator/Capacitor helping the battery and extending its life by quite a bit...