
Dragon Helmet: Open-source collaboration that aims to create a high tech helmet - mertyildiran
http://dragon.computer/
======
KGIII
I am not sure I want hard components located inside a helmet. I was hit on my
motorcycle, head on, and Superman-ed into the car that had crossed into my
lane.

The helmet saved my life, quite probably. It was so effective that Buell
wanted it back to study it. Other than smashing my hands and one ulna, I was
just a bit battered and bruised but the helmet was a wreck. The bike was a
complete loss. There were pics online, they probably still are.

Anyhow, unless you're going to end up with a heavy over-sized monstrosity, the
electronics are going to take up space in the padding. I may be biased, but
I'm kind of partial to that padding.

By the way, get certified helmets. Inspect your helmet for damage on a regular
basis. Replace damaged parts. Replace any helmet that has been involved in an
accident involving any force to the helmet.

Of all those, a certified helmet seems to be the more pressing issue. I see
many people wearing novelty helmets that are just as likely to cause
additional injury as they are to prevent injury.

Ride safe.

~~~
flipp3r
From the sample videos I'm not sure if it's intended to be used on a bike. It
seems to be popping up almost full screen windows, which looks insanely
dangerous to me if on a bike. The video on their page is someone presumably
using it / a concept of it, while walking.

~~~
KGIII
I didn't watch the video. Like the sibling post, I can't imagine too many
people meandering around with a helmet on, unless the task requires a helmet.
Even those tasks don't always get people wearing a helmet.

The picture looks like a motorcycle helmet and, if it's not, that may be even
worse. People will think it is a protective helmet and wear it as such. This
is a problem already, as they sell novelty helmets that don't meet DOT specs.

DOT spec'ed helmets have a sticker on the back. I absolutely will not ride
without one. I also insist on wearing one while snowmobiling, unless I'm just
moving it into the garage or something.

~~~
philipov
I could see the helmet for regular use, but only if followed up with billowing
black robes _and_ a cloak. Nothing less will suffice for the mankind's
absolute creation.

It will of course need to include climate control systems[0] for the summer,
and a voice modulator[1] would be nice too.

[0]: [https://youtu.be/wxL8bVJhXCM?t=52s](https://youtu.be/wxL8bVJhXCM?t=52s)

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQeP6GWU0e4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQeP6GWU0e4)

~~~
KGIII
I have heated helmets and heated snowmobile suits. They are pretty much as
awesome as you might imagine.

------
cnewey
I don't know if the website is _deliberately_ vague, or the proposers of this
project just don't know what it's going to be yet. There's not really any
mention of why it would be useful, what it would _do_ , and why anyone would
want to build one.

    
    
      * It's unlikely to be a motorcycle helmet because sharp embedded electronics inside a helmet is a recipe for head injury
      * It might be useful on a bicycle (for couriers, etc), but having windows popping up while cycling is a pretty bad idea
      * It might be useful for walking around (but probably not because it would look stupid)
    

Honestly, this is frustrating to read because I still can't figure out _what
it 's for_.

~~~
lucideer
This line about the software running on it seems to have a hint:

> _Dragonfire is the open source virtual assistant project for Ubuntu based
> Linux distributions. She will serve to the user of the helmet as a command
> and control interface so that you will be even able to order physical
> operations just by your voice commands and your eye movements._

but yes, they could be a lot clearer...

On the other hand, the page looks to be a work in progress. The armour links
go nowhere, and the armour repository has only one directory (though it seems
like the intent is to have many).

It seems like they're building an opensource, cloudless Jarvis. I must say I
do like the cloudless aspect.

~~~
cnewey
I saw that, but there's no explanation of what the virtual assistant will do
in context of the helmet (automate emails? terminal commands? maps and
navigation? cowsay?).

As for the rest of the armour links... I never understood the point of
submitting something to HN that was barely more than a landing page. Just
seems a bit misjudged, is all.

~~~
oddsignals
cowsay is definitely the killer app for this.

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waisbrot
I see a lot of confusion in the comments about "is it a motorcycle helmet?" If
you scroll past the picture to read the _first two sentences_ I think it's
pretty clear.

> From air pollution to high demand on smart wearable technologies there are
> many emerging problems for people who live in crowded cities. Very soon we
> will need to cover our nostrils and mouths with a filter to protect our
> health against inevitable air pollution.

It's a wearable computer placed on your head, under the assumption that you'll
want to wear full head-cover anyway.

~~~
dschep
What? To me nothing about those first two sentences(or any of the other
sentences) indicate it's a moto helmet. The pictures sure do, but none of the
text makes this clear it's for motorcycles instead of bicycles.

~~~
djrogers
Right, because it’s clearly not intended for either. It’s a head computer in
he form of a helmet. The only protection they want to offer is against
pollution.

~~~
dschep
Yup. I asked on their issue tracker and the creator clarified:
[https://github.com/DragonComputer/dragon.computer/issues/1](https://github.com/DragonComputer/dragon.computer/issues/1)

------
ISL
Air pollution is not demonstrably inevitable.

See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_\(United_States\))
as a counterexample.

~~~
mattnewport
Yeah, that stuck me as a bizarre thing to say. Air pollution has declined in
just about every developed country. Trends in power generation and electric
vehicles point in the direction of even less urban air pollution in the
future.

------
dasanman
Why?

~~~
Shengbo
You're being downvoted but I have to agree I don't see any real-world use
cases for this. It's too dangerous to use while riding a bike and I'm not
going to walk around with a helmet on, talking to a virtual assistant. It may
be useful in some kind of industrial environment with AR applications, but
then again a helmet is not the most practical/comfortable item to wear for
long periods of time.

~~~
exelius
Honestly I think they’re using the helmet as a prototype for a smaller device
that will eventually be built once someone solves the “wearable vision”
problem.

~~~
Shengbo
Possibly, but I still can't imagine talking to a virtual assistant anywhere
except while driving or cooking. I think a virtual assistant integrated with
the head up display of a car would be much more useful than wearables assuming
we can keep people from hacking them and turning them into a major safety
hazard by watching youtube videos while driving.

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fimdomeio
Sorry I know this is probably just a speculative project at the moment, but
why would anyone would anyone want to have a view blocking video while walking
around? At least with smart phones you can instantly look away if you need.

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wowtip
"I have great ideas and can produce some graphics and a decent looking web
page. Now I just need to find someone to help with the actual work behind the
product..."

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Rotdhizon
Looking at the GitHub page for it, it seems like an already dead project that
is desperate to be revived, but it's just not happening. This is a bad idea in
its current state. As some others have said, this project just seems very
poorly constructed. There's no target audience, usefulness, or real world
applications, just a _very_ open ended project.

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ajarmst
Wearable tech is incredibly interesting, but I have to be able to imagine
myself actually...well, wearing it. Google glass failed primarily just on that
(well, that and the people around you not wanting to be filmed).

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LansanaCamara
Just out of curiosity, did the makers of this ever place Runescape? There are
so many Runescape references haha, such as the "dragon helmet", "dragon
armour", "dragonfire" shield, etc.

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ghthor
Hell yes, I have been thinking about the same thing. Between all the assholes
smoking cigarettes in the streets, to wanting a phone strapped to my head for
AR passthrough. You have my brain.

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ilovefood
Thanks to this I found out about Dragonfire, looks very cool!

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Fredej
This could potentially be interesting in space. To be able to bring up repair
instructions etc. on the display during a spacewalk might have applications.

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Heliosmaster
Why a full suit of armor?

~~~
Finnucane
This is for the zombie apocalypse, obviously.

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msl09
looks like some kind of Aprils fools kind of stuff.

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martimarkov
Just became a patreon supporter. :)

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metisploit
Their git repos have passwords in the config files. Neat.

