Luna Oculus – cycling RearView Camera and Proximity Alert with a novel twist

More: Luna Oculus (via Indiegogo, Zag Daily)

Luna Oculus comprises a smartphone app and radar taillight, similar in technology to Garmin RTL515 / RCT715, onscreen you get audio and visual indications of the distance of vehicles as they approach your rear.

None of that is new. What IS new is that Luna Oculus also offers a live-action rear-facing camera giving a similar effect to looking in your rearview mirror when driving a car. The company also crowdsources geo-located danger spots which, over time, could become an interesting resource for places to avoid when route planning.

See it in action here:

Once connected, the Luna Oculus app provides a livestream of what is happening behind. When other vehicles like cars, trucks, and other bikes get too close, the app provides a real-time visual as well as audio alerts which intensify the closer the approaching vehicles get, giving cyclists precious time to manoeuvre to a safer road position.

In-ride warnings are just one way in which we hope this solution will boost cyclists’ confidence. Our app will also provide heat mapping of close calls: vehicles that pass without giving sufficient space, near misses and, in the most unfortunate of cases, collisions. The aim is to allow cyclists to identify danger hotspots and to locate safer routes. [Fleury, CEO]

Take Out

The devil will be in the detail. How many false negatives will it produce? Does it detect multiple vehicles? and at what distance? How quickly will your phone’s battery be used? How much video is recorded and saved

I see this as a safety tool for casual cyclists and perhaps also commuters.  As a rule of thumb, anyone wearing lycra will instead probably buy one of the Garmin/Magene/Bryton alternatives that integrate with bike computers.