Want the most advanced motorcycle helmet in the world? Then cast your eyes towards the Shoei GT-Air 3 Smart, a brain bucket made in conjunction with a company called EyeLights. It’ll cost you a cool R24,000 (€1,200) to protect your cranium with one, but you should be checking out Shoei’s headgear even if it’s not packed with tech.
And what tech it is. EyeLights reckons the GT-Air 3 Smart is the world’s first helmet with fully supported augmented reality built into the visor — something we’ve been expecting for some time. BMW has already offered bikers similar tech, in glasses form, but EyeLights’ own effort is a shade less cumbersome.
Grabbing some GT-Air 3
The company has crammed an FHD nano-OLED panel into the GT-Air 3’s visor, showing everything from map to speed data, along with phone call information and the location of speed cameras. That last one’s essential if you consider yourself more than just a weekend warrior, and the display can be customised to show what you consider most important.
The view distance for the heads-up display projection is three metres, so riders needn’t focus back and forth while navigating. Anyone who has spent time on a high-speed motorcycle knows what a disaster that could turn out to be.
Ten hours of battery life will last the entire breakfast run (and back, and then some), with EyeLight’s premium audio and microphone tech also taking up residence inside Shoei’s bucket. The former company’s universal intercom system, which allows an unlimited number of connections and unlimited range, along with “guaranteed compatibility with all brands on the market.” Connections are via online systems or mesh networks, so even if you’re roaming the Skeleton Coast, you should manage to stay in touch with your mates.
If you need anything else, the Shoei GT-Air 3 Smart also includes smart assistant support, in the form of Google and Apple’s favoured son and daughter. More standard features, like a QSV-2 drop-down sun visor, defogging vents, and an outer shield, make the smart helmet an attractive buy for folks who don’t need all this tech. You could probably opt for the stock version, too — that’ll run you a ‘mere’ R12,000.
