Apple Is Now Selling Lumos Smart Bike Helmet With LED Turning Signal

Cyclists have long used yellow vests, blinkers, LED lights, and other methods to increase their visibility on the road.

A company, Lumos, is helping to advance these solutions by letting cyclists sport bright LED signs on their helmets that even have turn and stop signals. 

Apple has now started selling the Lumos Matrix helmets, which cost $249.95, in its stores and online — giving the road visibility company a little extra market visibility.

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Improving road safety

A WHO report recently showed that more than half of all traffic deaths are pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.

Lumos is reimagining road gear for cyclists, scooter riders and skaters in order to help improve road safety worldwide.

“Design is really about solving human problems, but no one is really looking at [the commuters’] problems,” Lumos co-founder and CEO Eu-wen Ding told Mashable.

“What the traditional guys are trying to solve is, ‘How can we make this super lightweight? How can we make this super aerodynamic?' We are asking different questions: ‘How can we make a helmet that has a lot of lights, that can be seen from far away, and that drivers can recognize?’”

Customizable safety helmets

As well as a strong front light, the Lumos Matrix helmet has a 7x11 dot-matrix (hence the name), animated LED screen on its rear.

This allows riders to signal turns and also display a stop side to drivers when they are coming to a halt. The battery, the company says, has power-saving modes that would let it last the duration of a marathon if needed.

A simple touchpad can be attached to a bike's handlebars to control the helmet, or an Apple Watch app can also be used that detects hand signals.