Video: Could augmented reality make urban cycling easier and safer?

A research project undertaken by Future Cities Catapult has proposed five uses of technology which could improve the lot of the urban cyclist, reports Dezeen. The ‘speculative prototypes’ deal with challenges including navigation, safety and air quality.

The five mock-ups are all aspects of what the researchers term a "soft infrastructure" for cyclists – which is to say digital information rather than real-world physical developments. Dan Hill, chief design officer at Future Cities Catapult, said that a lot could be achieved in this field.

"Many cities are spending serious money, time and attention on improving the 'hard infrastructure' of cities to make cycling safer, more convenient, more attractive.

"Yet as well as this — and clearly investment in such hard infrastructure is key — there is potential of a soft infrastructure which can be overlaid on existing urban fabric to further support cycling, which takes advantage of contemporary technologies such as wearables, Internet of Things, real-time sensor data, and so on."

The first idea is for an augmented paths network. The team realised that one of the major issues for cyclists navigating an unfamiliar area is when their route changes from a street to an alley or from a road to a park path. The proposed solution would involve a Heads-Up Display, such as Google Glass, through which directions and other instructions could be given.

By a similar means, prompts and hints could be provided based on city surroundings. Landmarks help us find our way around and so it is suggested that visual cues could help us get to learn a new area more rapidly.

The team speculate that improved environmental information could influence route choices for cyclists, specifically with regards to pollution. An air quality sensor could provide real-time data and inform the rider of alternative routes with cleaner air.

The blind spot visualisation idea is simply a projection of a vehicle’s blind spot, although the researchers also point out that machine-to-machine technologies could enable HGVs and buses to be made aware of approaching cyclists.

Finally, the somewhat grandly named ‘route rectification’ concept is a simple indicator which could be mounted on the handlebars of bike share scheme cycles to serve as a direction prompt. The idea is that the indicator would link with the user’s mobile phone to pick up information about where they were going and then let them know when a wrong turn was taken.