Project AURA

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Riding at night can be a daunting and dangerous task, an issue many bike commuters deal with daily. We are both bikers and we know how intimidating it sometimes is to be cycling on the same roads as a car or truck weighing 100 times what we do - being pushed to the far edges of the road shoulder and always having to worry about the large consequences of a driver's small mistake. We wanted to develop a system which increased the visual presence of bikers at night.

Attachable front and rear lights are great at making riders seen, but they are not always the most effective way of increasing visibility to all motorists, especially from the side. Additionally, front and rear lights do little to identify a biker as a biker as opposed to an ambiguous blinking point of light. Many bikes have reflectors on the wheels and the frame. But reflectors are only effective when they are in the direct headlight of an automobile, an inadequate solution.

By illuminating the rims, we have created an immediate formal context for drivers to identify bikers as bikers and take the appropriate measures to drive safely in their vicinity. The goal of the project was to rethink the paradigm of bike lights, while increasing convenience and safety and integrating everything into a package which did not detract from the pure aesthetic of the bike coveted by riders.

Project Aura deals directly with mistakes both bikers and drivers make in regard to safety. Our design better informs drivers about the biker‘s presence and actions as compared to bike lighting systems commonly used (front and rear blinky). In almost all accident scenarios, a root cause of the accident is a lack of information on the part of one, or both of the parties involved. It is too easy to not see a biker at night. Project Aura brings riders to a driver‘s attention without being obnoxious or intrusive, by emphasizing the form factor of the bike through light. Our design also deals directly with some of the deadly decisions bikers make in regard to safety, primarily decisions motivated by laziness and the lacking ‘cool factor’ of bike lights.

Blinky lights are not hip or beautiful. They rarely integrate well with the bike and it can be a hassle to turn on multiple individual lights. Our design is self-powered and need not be turned on or off (However, there is a switch located on the handlebars so that hands never have to leave the bars to activate). One of the biggest issues this project addresses compared to conventional lighting setups is the streamlining of the system. Bikes are inherently fashion items and riders don‘t want to clutter their rides with ugly clip on lights. Project Aura is completely integrated into the rims of the bike, leaving the aesthetics of whatever ride you choose to sport, completely unblemished.

Project Aura is primarily a safety device, designed to improve the relationship between riders and drivers. It is about communication and hopefully through enhanced communication between rider and driver we can make the roads safer for all parties involved. But the project works on other levels as well. The immediate reaction everybody has is “wow cool, what is that?”. And that is an important thing - that on a purely surface level we have created something freakin’ cool. But neither of us see good design as just being flashy or fashionable, it has to enhance peoples’ experience (and maybe even save their life). If every biker had this system, our hope is that being on the street at night as a driver, pedestrian, K-9, or biker would be a slightly more pleasant experience than what we are accustomed to. Good design has the right combination of beauty, novelty, functionality and desirability, and we did our very best to mix just the right amount of each to arrive at a successful resolution which challenged current lighting systems and will possibly save lives in the process as well.

It should be noted that Project Aura is a lighting system which allows a rider to be seen, but does not replace a forward facing headlight to illuminate the roadway. By law (in Pennsylvania, the laws vary state by state) a front headlamp and rear reflector are required, use of a rear blinky is up to the rider‘s discretion.