While it’s become more commonplace for premium cars to offer some sort of heads-up display (HUD), it isn’t as easy to implement on a motorcycle, because, you know, the lack of a substantial windscreen. Instead, BMW have created a pair of smartglasses for riders that will beam journey data right into their line of sight.
Before you start worrying that this is anything like Google Glass or various other augmented reality specs, there’s an actual purpose attached to these.
The ConnectedRide are worn like a regular pair of glasses under a helmet and project the rider’s speed, navigation instructions, and even gear selection onto the lenses. The idea is to provide convenience and reduce the amount of time spent looking away from the road.
There are two swappable lenses included in clear and tinted finishes which are compatible with prescription lenses, but only in the range between +4.5 and -4.5 diopters.
For the ConnectedRide to work, the rider has to sync them up with the BMW Motorrad Connected app via Bluetooth. From here, users can tailor the brightness and alter the position of the data fields.
On first use, riders have to adjust the focal length and follow a series of instructions to ensure that everything is sitting right. Once set, riders can adjust how much data they see via a restricted option that minimises navigation instructions to the absolute minimum.
The system operates wirelessly until you need to plug it in and charge them after the 10-hour battery runs out.
A release date hasn’t been announced yet, but a European price tag of 690 Euros has.
