I’ve been obsessing a little over helmets as of late. I’m concurrently testing three, and researching about a dozen more, so it’s become a preoccupation that, true to my unfettered ADHD, has me scouring the internet like a 13-year-old girl looking for the latest Bad Bunny song drop.

What’s obvious after spending enough hours online to warrant an intervention from my wife — “You’ve got three helmets already; step away from Fortnine!” — is that the future of motorcycle helmets has little to do with physical injury protection and much more to do with digital accident prevention. Oh, we have the new ECE 22.06 safety standard (which does improve protection and retention systems), Multi-directional Impact Protection Systems (MIPS) and a few years back, a company called 6D put out a really revolutionary six-dimensional internal damper that promised to very much reduce rotational brain injuries. But other than the introduction of flip-back helmets — basically a modular helmet in which the chin piece rotates all the way to the back of the helmet — motorcycle brain buckets haven’t been breaking very many technological barriers these days.

At least in the physical realm. 

On the digital front, however, things have really exploded, with helmets now connecting and entertaining us in ways that seemed unimaginable just a decade ago. Back when the Schuberth’s E1 was new, listening to music while riding meant finding a set of wired earbuds small enough that they didn’t bore holes into your ear canal once you pulled your helmet on. A little while later, we graduated to wireless earbuds, thinking the demise of the wire was a technological advancement beyond compare. 

Then, of course, came sound systems retrofitted into helmets adding connectivity — real-time navigation instructions and cell calls — to huge 45-millimetre speakers blaring out Paloma Faith at unconscionable levels. Surely, thought we — maybe that was just I — that would be the be-all-and-end-all of helmet connectivity.

Instead, it seems we’re just getting started. A few years ago, Schuberth’s C5 were the first mass-produced helmets with speakers built-in by default. Now, many of the major helmet-makers offer a pre-installed communications system. Trying to maintain its market leadership, Schuberth is doubling down, this year announcing the release of a noise-
cancelling version of the now-venerable C5 with bigger, 53-mm speakers, built-in ear muffs and a complete computer and microphone system that quantifies the sound of the wind rushing past your ears, cancels it and then replaces it even more decibels of Can’t Rely on You. If Schuberth’s claims of a 10-decibel drop in wind noise — which equates to roughly 10 times less sound energy — the darned thing is going to be a lifeline to all of us with motorcycling-induced tinnitus.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg to what start-up helmet makers and communication systems designers are trying to stuff into your skid lid. 

For instance, Intelligent Cranium is building helmets with dual rear-facing cameras built into its spoiler that provide a 240-degree image of everything that’s behind you while riding that alerts the rider of impending doom should they try to change lanes inappropriately. Throw in automatic crash notifications service and IC seems to be as much in the business of preventing crashes and/or notifying the authorities when one happens as it is in preventing injury when noggin hits tarmac.

Meanwhile, industry giant Shoei is working with a French company called EyeLights to produce the GT-Air 3 Smart with an augmented reality Head-Up display. According to the manufacturer, everything from turn-by-turn navigational instructions and who’s calling you is projected into your field of vision about three metres in front of you. And, because the projection comes via a nano-OLED display, it’s all supposed to work in the face of direct sunlight.

Meanwhile, a company called Forcite is building an MK1S that does the noise-cancelling thing, builds a 1080p camera into the front chin piece, alerts you about traffic ahead, sniffs out cop cars and still gives you turn-by-turn navigations advice while projecting all ahead with an HUD display. Just the ability to sniff out speed traps — via Waze-like community-driven data — might make me a believer.Throw in helmets in — or near — production with built-in stoplights and/or turn signals as well as others with LEDs that make the rider more visible at night for even more safety advancements. That said, some of this stuff sounds like a distraction too far. It’s one thing to have tunes blaring and even the occasional “Where are you?” call from work. But what happens if it’s accompanied by visual navigation cues, the occasional blared warning of a Winnebago creeping dangerously close to your left hindquarter, and the always panic-inducing speed trap alert? Could all the supposed safety benefits of not having to shift your eyes away from the road ahead be undone by information overload? We live in an increasingly connected world; I’m not sure that’s a good thing while riding a high-powered motorcycle.