This smart helmet uses organic photovoltaics for clean energy while keeping you stylish and safe!

Posted on 07/12/2020 by Shawn McNulty-Kowal

WertelOberfell, a Germany-based designed studio, recently debuted their energy self-sufficient bicycle helmet, ESUB Tracks. The helmet is designed to keep cyclists safe and the creative team at WertelOberfell certainly checked all their corners when considering the different obstacles cyclists face on the road. Built-in smart features buzz through this helmet and they’re powered by organic photovoltaics that gives this helmet all the energy it needs to keep you safe.

In order to turn the ordinary helmet into an energy self-sufficient, smart helmet, the designers turned to science. Printed organic batteries and a Nano Arduino, a microcontroller, contained in one unit at the rear of the helmet, run the whole show and all the incorporated electric components, but the helmet’s surface provides the energy. The designers achieved the futuristic look of this helmet by wrapping flat, organic, printed photovoltaics all around in order to use the outer layer of ESUB Tracks as a PV module that absorbs sunlight and turns it into energy. This form of energy self-sufficiency allows the helmet’s batteries and smart features to constantly recharge and give power to the varying smart features and electric components that distinguish ESUB Tracks. ESUB Tracks carries a lot of hidden features, one being an integrated speaker. The helmet’s printed piezoelectric, bone conduction speakers are heat pressed onto leather straps with an embossed interior layer that slightly presses against the user’s ear for close acoustics. The speakers connect via Bluetooth from your smartphone and provide crystal clear audio without reducing the sound levels that surround that user. Along the backside of ESUB Tracks is the helmet’s sensor domain.

Here’s when the safety perks come in. If cyclists wearing ESUB Tracks aren’t aware of what’s going on behind them, then rear proximity sensors will let users know when automobiles or other cyclists are getting too close. Additionally, haptic feedback is integrated into the sensors so that piezoelectric haptic actuators vibrate whenever ESUB Tracks senses some sort of road danger or just close vehicle proximity. Just beneath the user’s chin, a printed piezoelectric microphone understands voice commands so that if a cyclist has to make a turn, then the microphone can register voice commands such as turn signals, no hand motion required. To top it off, or bottom it off, ESUB Tracks integrates self-adjusting chin straps that use an electric drive to fasten straps until the helmet fits comfortably and safely atop the cyclist’s head, no manual adjustments needed. Maybe this is actually what they all meant when they said they could ride with no hands.

Designer: WertelOberfell

This smart walking-stick uses real-time image-recognition to help the visually impaired ‘see’

Posted on 17/09/2020 by Sarang Sheth

The Sense Five may look like a regular walking stick, but it’s to walking stick what the smartwatch is to mechanical timepieces. With smart sensors integrated into its handle, the Sense Five has its way of communicating with its user, allowing them to be aware of what’s around them. It all starts with the way the Sense Five is shaped. Its unique ‘7’ shaped format comes with a reason, helping the visually impaired easily navigate their surroundings. The stick’s angled design allows its user to instinctively hold it the right way. The handle is held horizontally, and the stick naturally leans forward, allowing the user to tap their surroundings as they navigate through spaces. A camera on the front actively captures images, recognizing objects and obstacles, while a simple switch allows you to toggle a torch to use the stick at night. When the camera identifies something worth alerting the user about, it communicates with the user through the handle.

The handle has to be by far one of my favorite details. It’s elegant, slim, and comes with a unique dynamic surface that ‘flares up’ on command, with an almost animal-like instinct. When the camera notices an obstacle near the user, the handle’s 3D surface comes to life, alerting the user. The tactile response is incredibly easy to identify (especially given that the user’s palms are perpetually in contact with the handle), and is much more effective than an audio cue, which could get missed in a noisy environment or could be disturbing in a quiet one. The way the handle communicates with the user is incredibly stealthy, effective, and almost reptilian. The handle, through its dynamic skin, can even communicate a low-battery status to the user, prompting them to charge the Sense Five via a standard USB-C port on the back.

However, the Sense Five isn’t just a walking stick for its owner. It can help communicate the user’s presence to others around them. The torchlight on the front is accompanied by a red taillight on the back that helps people spot the stick and user in low-light settings. Incredibly effective at night (especially when you need to cross the road), the torch and taillight are yet another example of features that go above and beyond to keep the visually impaired user safe and sound as they navigate through life.

Designer: Werteloberfell

Atomic Geometry All Aglow!

Posted on 28/07/2017 by Troy Turner

Atomic Light by Werteloberfell from WertelOberfell on Vimeo.

This 3D printed pendant, called the Atomic light, is at once a shading structure and illumination source! The unique printed material can be manually adjusted to control the output direction of the LEDs or create a shade from direct light by simply by moving the rings. As functional as it is sculptural, the resulting geometric aesthetic is so clean it’s even seemingly bulb-less!

Designer: WertelOberfell

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