Motorcycle visor automatically tints when it's too bright out – no batteries needed

Motorcycle visor automatically tints when it's too bright out – no batteries needed
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newatlas.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-visor-autom…

An Italian optics research firm might have just tackled literally the biggest issue I face while motorcycling: the sun in my eyes.

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photochromic Lenses have been around for decades. I use photochromic goggles every time I dirt bike, no batteries or solar panel.

For faster response on the street I use a shoei helmet with drop down tinted lenses inside. Just a flick of the finger slides them down over my eyes. Simple, cheap, effective. Pretty sure it’s SNELL approved.

I don’t want complicated and expensive. $460 buys a few tires.

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Apparently it doesn’t

Irid’s liquid crystal-based technology tints helmet visors to cut glare in an instant. It actually takes less than a second, and it doesn’t even require battery power to work.

The transition is automatically triggered by bright sunlight – and it returns to normal when you go through a tunnel or it gets dark outside. This means you don’t have to take your mitts off the handlebars to fiddle with a switch on your helmet, like you would with an additional drop-down visor that’s mounted on the inside of conventional models.

Convenience aside, this is a big deal because adding a drop-down visor to a helmet means it won’t pass muster with Snell’s stringent safety standards that are demanded by many racing competitions. Enhancing visibility in harsh sunlight can make things far more comfortable for riders, and potentially safer too.

Since it’s powered by sunlight, a power failure should revert it back to transparent. Maybe as the tech improves and becomes cheaper, helmets can include both options?

The powered automatic version (with a power cutting kill switch) and the drop down option for when you want it dark but it’s not bright enough for it to trigger. If the mechanism is a 3 step dial, then it should be intuitive.

  • 0 = forced transparent (power killed)
  • 1 = automatic
  • 2 = forced dark (power killed + drop-down active)
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Deleted by author

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OP

I’ve heard this criticism of transition glasses lenses too, it would be cool if they made it faster!

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Is this not just a welding mask? Welding mask is no batteries required. There’s a solar panel on the front. The instant there’s intense light, the LCD screen is powered on and dims. Same technology as the helmet. The instant the bright light leaves, the mask powers down and the LCD screen that covers your face dims to normal.

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Bingo bango. Smart idea to use similar tech solutions, but it hardly takes an ’optic research’ firm for a helmet change

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OP

I think they make helmets like that too, but the article mentions that this thing is totally passive: No solar panel or batteries. I’d definitely rather have a SNELL rated full face helmet (this one isn’t SNELL approved btw) with a flip-down insert or like you’re describing with the solar power/on-off ability.

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