The US Olympic Cycling Team is Training With Augmented Reality Glasses

Olympian-Approved

One team is taking augmented reality glasses to the Olympics. These glasses can display important information such as speed, heart rate, calories burned, distance traveled/remaining, maps and navigation, race against previous rides, and a plethora of other things.

Oh, it also has voice prompt capabilities, and it can even make calls while you ride!

Solos Smart Cycling Glasses are supporting the USA's cycling team for the Rio Games in 2016. They assert that they have been working with the team for over a year in developing the product, which they created as an aid to performance tracking and supplement precision training tools.

“We worked in conjunction with the Solos team from the ground up to develop a wearable technology that could be a game changer in the industry and have a great impact across the board,” Andy Sparks, Director of Track Cycling Programs for the USA Cycling team said.

Solos is essentially lightweight protective eyewear that lets you to view information while keeping your hands free (or in this case, on the handlebar) and your head up. Having the micro-display up in your glasses means you don’t have to scramble for your phone or look down on a bike display. 

Contrary to possible initial assumptions (that the micro-display will get in the way of track visibility) it seems to be non-invasive: “Just look beyond it, you don’t even notice it,” 2016 world champion Kelly Catlin says.

You can also adjust where the data is displayed on the lens, adding to the convenience.

Available to Mortals

The product is currently running an active Kickstarter campaign where they have already gone beyond their target seed fund for the project.

According to their product write-up: “Everything about Solos is designed to make you a higher performing, more finely tuned rider. But Solos isn't just for the hard core cyclist, our fresh design and helpful features are made for anyone who loves to ride.”

So regardless of whether you are a professional cyclist or just a regular enthusiast, the Solos might be worth putting into consideration. If you decide to support them, pledging $250 will get you a pair—that is half the retail price you’ll have to pay for the Olympic-tested product after the campaign ends in July.