A bike helmet that plays your favorite tunes as you ride

Open-Ear Sound

You’ve chosen to imagine a bike helmet that plays your favorite tunes as you ride. You might want to learn more about open-ear sound, which lets us hear audio without plugging our ears. Your playlist can come along, but the birds still get to sing, too!

Fun Facts:

Sena makes cycling helmets with speakers above your ears, so you can hear music and traffic around you.
Bone-conduction hearing devices have been developed for more than a century, sending vibrations through bones near the ear.
Shokz makes open-ear sports headphones designed to let athletes hear their music and their surroundings together.

Open-Ear Sound

LISTEN

We’re exploring open-ear sound, which lets us listen without covering our ears. Some devices place small speakers just outside our ears. Others send sound vibrations through bones near our ears. Today, cyclists can even buy helmets with speakers built inside. This could help us enjoy music while staying aware outside. Your playlist can come along, but the birds still get to sing, too!

Fun Facts:

In 1879, an invention called the Audiphone looked a little like a fan. A person pressed it against their teeth so vibrations could help them hear.
By the 1950s, engineers had made bone-conduction hearing devices small enough to build into the arms of eyeglasses.
Sena’s R2 cycling helmet has speakers just above the ears. Riders can hear music, directions, and other cyclists without putting earbuds inside their ears.
Directional speakers can aim sound toward a particular location, so you hear it when you stand in one spot while someone nearby hears something different.
Shokz makes headphones that leave the ears open, so athletes can listen while still hearing sounds around them.

Discussion Question:

How could your helmet help you notice cyclists, walkers, and cars around you?

LISTEN

Physical Build:

Design your own open-ear music helmet using a paper bowl, cardboard, tape, and craft supplies. Add pretend speakers, then decide where to put them so they do not cover the rider’s ears. Test different spots and redesign your helmet until you like your solution.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Invent three ways a bike helmet could play music without covering my ears.”

Choose your favorite idea, draw your helmet, and add one new feature that makes your design safer or sillier.

or a safety horn that yells at unsafe drivers in the voice of your favorite villain?

Villain Horn

Smart Safety Systems

LISTEN

You’ve chosen to imagine a bike horn that spots danger and lets your favorite villain do the yelling. You might want to learn more about smart safety systems that can notice danger and warn or protect us. Even supervillains agree: bike safety is serious business!

Fun Facts:

In the 1890s, some American cities already required bicycles to have warning devices like bells or horns.
Volvo introduced a car system in 2013 that could detect a cyclist ahead and automatically brake.
A project called Blicycle, designed with a blind cyclist, used vibrations on the left or right handlebars to tell the rider which way to steer.

Smart Safety Systems

LISTEN

We’re exploring smart safety systems, which can notice danger and help us respond. Some systems warn us with lights, pictures, or sounds. Others can take action when a crash might happen. Cars already use sensors to watch for people and other vehicles. Some systems are also being designed to detect cyclists. Maybe a future bike could watch the road with us, because even supervillains agree: bike safety is serious business!

Fun Facts:

In the 1890s, bicycles were so quiet that they sometimes startled people and horses. Some cities required riders to carry warning bells or horns.
In 2008, Volvo introduced City Safety, a system that watched the road ahead and could automatically brake if a crash seemed likely.
Garmin's Varia bike radar can detect vehicles approaching from behind from up to 140 meters away and warn the cyclist.
An MIT project called Blicycle, designed with a blind cyclist, tested vibrating handlebars: vibrations on the left or right told the rider which way to steer.
Warnings don't always need to be loud. Modern safety systems can communicate danger using lights, pictures, vibrations, sounds, or automatic actions.

Discussion Question:

How might a smart bike horn affect drivers, walkers, and other cyclists nearby?

LISTEN

Physical Build:

Create a smart bike-horn prototype from cardboard, paper, tape, and craft supplies. Add pretend sensors that watch different directions around the bike. Then invent different warnings for different problems. You could use a bell for walkers, a flashing sign for cars, or a ridiculous villain message for something especially dangerous.

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Digital Build:

With an adult, ask ChatGPT:

“Invent four funny villain warnings a smart bike could use for different road dangers.”

Decide which warning belongs with each danger, then draw a control panel showing how your future bike knows when to use them.