Motorcycles of the future

 

Motorcycle AI and Suit integration

 

In the early 90’s, a technological revolution was underway.  Walkman cassette players were replaced by Discman CD-players, transistor radios became smaller and smaller and VHS (after overcoming Betamax) was overwhelmed by the invention of the DVD.  But somewhere between VHS and DVD, was the Laserdisc.  My dad bought us one, it was simply amazing to behold.  The disc could have been used as a weapon; it was heavy, sturdy and had a different metallic sheen than CD’s or DVD’s.  They were as big as albums and packaging was designed the same way for some, like big DVD’s for others.  They harked back to older times for those who missed the dominance of albums, they presented a nostalgia.  VHS knew that it’s days were over but a new standard had not yet been chosen.  Laserdisc was pushed heavily by Sony, but it wasn’t the powerhouse then as it is now so adoption was slow.  Laserdisc technology was years better than TV’s of the period could resolve so there was massive amounts of space on the disc for extra content or even other movies.  This was a period where there was a device for everything and folks would have had to go out and buy ANOTHER thing that was going to be obsolete in a few years…this was a huge hurdle for Laserdisc manufacturers.  Available movies were restricted to just a few available titles at Blockbuster, it seemed it was a competitor even with DVD’s being pushed alongside.

Then streaming video took off.

The potential impact of the concept of a seminal idea derailing all development is the fear.  Technological improvements could change the shape of the helmet or dispense with it altogether as there have been some advances on inflatable crash helmets that deploy only in emergencies.  The display could potentially be reduced to a set of sunglasses, contacts or grown in place within the pupil.

Cultural changes would be required as this technology would likely not stay on motorcycles as people would feel more connected with their environment and would be more interactive with the same.  However, people in the rest of society may have some issues with faceless people walking around them recording everything they see. This would be a cultural problem but one that, interestingly, may not be too much of one given COVID and the preponderance of people wearing masks.  This and the potential need for police and firefighters to have similar face shields would drive innovation further in this direction,