Project Aurora: Bicycle Lighting System [Video]

The Project Aurora bicycle safety lighting system is the brainchild of Ethan Frier and Jonathan Ota, two industrial design students at Carnegie Mellon University.

Riding at night can be a daunting and dangerous task; many biking commuters are faced with the issue of being obscured when riding on the streets. Visibility at night is a vital component of biker safety, hence the need for reflectors and attachable lights. However, some of these devices are not always effective especially from the side.
We created a system that requires very little rider input and maintenance, while increasing the visual footprint of bikers from all directions especially from the side. We accomplished this by expanding the surface area of light emitted through the use of RGB LEDs inside the rims of the wheels that change from red when slowing down to white when at cruising speed.

According to a recent blog update, the guys behind Project Aurora are still working hard behind the scenes to make the system a commercial reality.

What a brilliant idea.

Via @Issue