LifeBEAM has launched an Indiegogo campaign today in order to put its new smart cycling helmet, which includes a built-in heart rate sensor, into full production. The company has a pretty impressive track record to take note of. The startup, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, specializes in remote monitoring of multiple physiological parameters, such as heart rate, blood flow and oxygen saturation. LifeBEAM has used this knowledge in the past to create a miniaturized sensor that is used in some of the helmets worn by fighter pilots and astronauts. Being able to track these metrics in real-time is valuable not only for assessing the person’s physcial performance, but also as a safety measure for keeping tabs on their health. The company now wants to use this experience in order to launch its first product for everyday consumers. The Genesis helmet, currently manufactured by Lazer Sport, will include what it calls a LifeBEAM sensor at the front and a processing unit at the back. The data can then be relayed to various monitoring devices, fitness watches and smartphones in real-time using Bluetooth 4.0 with Bluetooth low energy (BLE). LifeBEAM claims to be one of the few options that doesn’t use a chest strap to monitor the user’s heart rate. “Other solutions promise to collect heart rate data from locations such as the wrist but these technologies are unproven,†it adds. The idea is that the Genesis weighs and feels just like any other cycling helmet,
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