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TECH NEWS
mobile-application.jpgMavic develops smartphone app for boosting visibility
Are you interested in boosting your visibility at this time of year? Well, Mavic has come out with an intriguing method to improve visibility when riding at this time of year using nothing but a transparent jacket pocket and a free smartphone app it has developed.
The Vision app transforms a smartphone into an advanced rear light, which is then stored in the transparent pocket in its Vision H20 Jacket.
The Vision app uses the screen to display alternating patterns intended to grab the attention of other road users. It uses the gyroscope and accelerometer that is built into most smartphones to detect when you’re slowing at a junction and display a braking symbol. It’ll also display turn signals as well.
The Vision app is available to download free for iOS and Android devices.
What do you think? Gimmick or useful product? We’re going to download it and give it a whirl.
- 8 of the best high-visibility winter cycling jackets
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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18 comments
Interesting idea, but I'd be worried about the effect of burn-in on the screen if used for extended periods, assuming the battery lasted that long.
Presumably version 2.0 of the app will also use your selfie camera to record rear-facing images
Interesting idea, but I'd be worried about the effect of burn-in on the screen if used for extended periods, assuming the battery lasted that long.
Presumably version 2.0 of the app will also use your selfie camera to record rear-facing images
Eh no thanks. I'll keep using my trusty rear light. Cheaper to buy a light than risking a £800-1000 smart phone.
Does " Mavic" by any chance translate into Lunatics?
Could you use it to scroll amusing messages across?
fksake
Nah, can't see it myself...
Just a marketing gimmick
Presumably you need 2 phones as well for the front and rear.
Surely everyone has a least 2 rear lights and a spare combo light in a wedge pack in the summer?
I can see things like that being handy if you're out a lot later than expected or perhaps if you're doing little errands around town or riding to the office on your Santander Cycles / Mobike.
And obviously if you happen to be wearing the correct jacket at the time...
I suppose the other thing is that for a screen the size of a phone (even a phablet) to display anything useful you need to be quite close. Not something you want to encourage ....
You might want to use up your phone battery if all other lights had failed, but you wouldn't want to be using it regularly (unless you want your phone to die in the middle of a ride).
Still a stupid idea. Best to get the tool for the job - a phone for phoning / texting, a light for lighting.
My phone is plugged into a BT socket in the dining room at home. There's no way I'm taking it out on the bike as the cord isn't long enough (and more importantly I really don't appreciate anyone ringing me while I'm out on my bike).
I have no transparent enough rear pockets on anything I'd wear this time of year. So that's the end of that.
It's a marketing tool for their jacket.
A proper cyclist would buy a decent rear light (or maybe two).
Yep - you wonder if they really ride bikes!
There's little point displaying a turn arrow as I turn - that's needed beforehand, so how does an accelerometer know that?
And a phone on my back will be shining at the sky - surely a phone would be better in a waterproof case on my saddle rails or seatpost?
Luckily for you, Mavic have thought of that and are selling a jersey with the transparent pocket that you didn't realise you needed until now
(never mind that said jersey will be hidden under waterproof / softshell jackets due to the lovely weather)
Actually, Mavic have thought of that and it is a Jacket that they have designed (the Vision Thermo Jacket is a mid-weight rainproof softshell jacket) not a Jersey. Not sure how visible the screen of the mobile would be in the middle of summer so it makes sense that it is a jacket rather than a jersey.
Gimmick.
Gimmick. But an itneresting idea. Probably better served by a light with an led array than draining your phone battery.