All roads lead to Rome with the launch of the Beeline Moto, a slick navigation system for motorcyclists which does away with cluttered maps to guide bikers using a simple arrow. The £149 Moto is a new version of Beeline’s existing nav tool for cyclists, but brings in additional features built with motorbikers in mind, such as turn-by-turn route guidance and beefed-up ‘mounting mechanisms’ to handle higher speeds and vibrations.
The underlying technology, Beeline says, applies algorithms to both the phone and device sensors to then point the rider in the right direction. Polling every half second, the navigation system is continually recalibrating the rider’s route in relation to their position and final destination.
“Whereas the original cycling product simply pointed you at the end destination, like a compass, Beeline Moto gives the option of full route guidance,” says Beeline co-founder Mark Jenner. “It still uses the arrow to follow, but now steering you along a precise route, which can be set up in a few taps on the phone. Compass mode is still available for off-road riding.”
The existing app guides riders along the most natural route as the crow flies, using GPS to point you towards the route end. But Beeline’s new route mode, designed to assist motorbikers travelling at much higher speeds, directs you according to the most precise pre-planned route while also showing the overall direction of travel in the corner of the screen, and should help bikers navigate city routes and roads.
With data displayed on the 30mm diameter screen including journey progress and distance to next turn, Beeline wants Moto to resolve some of the challenges of motorbike satnav, helping riders in urban environments get about without having to constantly check a map on a phone or a Garmin or a TomTom. Other ideas such as HUD overlay on helmet visors are yet to be developed to be affordable for the everyday biker. Other motorbike tech has attempted to enhance biker safety: helmets with rearview cameras, such as the CrossHelmet, give riders 360 degree vision by projecting a livestream of what’s behind you onto the front of the visor.
Like the bicycle version of the app and device, the minimalist Beeline Moto comes with a gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer, and has 30 hours of rechargeable battery life. The fully waterproofed device relies on these features for biking navigation at higher speeds, guiding riders through a more precise journey using the route mode, which in the future could potentially be integrated with motorbiking apps such as Rever.
The Beeline Moto will cost £79 or $109 for early birds, with the final retail price expected to be £149 or $199.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
