Haptic bike safety revealed

Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled a system that uses haptic feedback to help prevent car and bicycle collisions.

The system, called Bike Sense, uses a number of methods to make drivers aware of bicyclists – even when their car is stopped.

The system will, says Jaguar Land Rover (JLR,) "trigger an instinctive response from the driver to prevent accidents". Two examples are door handles that buzz the driver’s hand to prevent doors being opened into the path of a bike, and a vibrating accelerator pedal that warns if moving the car would be likely to cause an accident.

The concept technology is under development via JLR’s Advanced Research Centre. The timeline for production versions of Bike Sense is not yet clear.

It will use new technologies that incorporate "colours, sounds and touch inside the car to alert drivers to potential hazards and prevent accidents involving bicycles and motorbikes".

JLR says this method reduces reaction time because the driver does not have to process a 'conventional' warning. To help the driver understand where the bike is in relation to the car, the audio system will make a sound as if a bicycle bell or motorbike horn is coming through the speaker nearest the bike, enabling the driver to immediately understand the direction the cyclist is coming from.

In addition, if a two-wheeler is overtaking or coming past the vehicle, the top of the car seat can extend to ‘tap’ the driver on the left or right shoulder. JLR says: "the idea is that the driver will then instinctively look over that shoulder to identify the potential hazard".

"As the cyclist gets closer to the car, a matrix of LED lights on the window sills, dashboard and windscreen pillars will glow amber and then red as the bike approaches. The movement of these red and amber lights across these surfaces will also highlight the direction the bike is taking," JLR's information sheet on the new system says.

Bike Sense would also be able to identify hazards the driver cannot see, such as a pedestrian or cyclist obscured by a stationary vehicle.