Conducted August 22, 2008 by Asiana Ponciano
www.AsianaPonciano.com
Q: What inspired the concept of the Speed Vest?
Brady: Riding my bike down a steep hill one day and “taking the lane” (riding in the middle of the traffic lane) so that no cars could pass me too closely, I thought- “Some people must really be pissed at me- I wonder if they knew I was going 25+ mph they’d think the same.”
The idea grew beyond that incident into thinking about having my speed being visible at all times to motorists and wondering if it might encourage them to try biking if they can see that most any person on a bike can average 10+ mph – faster than a lot of the average speeds through cities (taking into account congestion and that cars can’t make use of the road shoulders to get ahead).
When I worked for Wired Magazine’s hotwired.com back in the late 90’s I was exposed to a lot of great wearable technology ideas and influences, including attending Burning Man with my work mates. I can’t help but think these things built a foundation for inspiring what’s possible.
Q: How long did the entire process of designing to producing take? What was one major hurdle you two had to overcome?
Mykle: Time was super-compressed, because we decided to enter the Hub’s [a cooperative bike shop in Minneapolis] bike invention contest before we had any idea if we could build it or not, so the deadline came first. After a couple weeks of pure research, the actual design & production took place over two weeks in April 2007. That wouldn’t have been possible without the advice of DorkBotPDX, a group of electronics tinkerers and artists in my home town of Portland, Oregon.
The biggest hurdle for me was not knowing nearly enough about electronics! I had worked with audio stuff — amps, guitars, signal processing sorts of things — but this was a whole new area. I copied other peoples’ circuits from the Internet, and leaned heavily on the advice of experts. I had to learn what a triac is, why micro-controller pins need to be pulled up or down, all sorts of little details. All in a hurry!
Brady: The biggest hurdle for me was figuring out how to stack and attach the numbers on the back of the vest, since each number is a separate piece of material that lights up. Convincing Mykle to join me in building the vest was actually pretty easy – he has the curiosity and skills to make the most delightful things happen!
Q: What is the latest news with the Speed Vest? Are there companies interested in taking this product to the market?
Mykle: Interest has been strong! There’s definitely a price point at which we think we could sell thousands of these, but we’re still considering if we want to launch a business right now. I have my writing career, Brady has a fulltime job promoting alternative transportation options. So we’re talking to various people, learning more about the technical apparel industry and looking for the right partners.
Q: Did you have other designs for the lighting display? If so, why did you decide on using EL-wires and a Nixie-Tube style display?
Mykle: We settled on EL-wire pretty early, and given the flexibility of that medium, a normal 7-segment calculator display would have been boring. Nixie tubes were an inspiration because they really work exactly the same way as the Speed Vest — overlaid filaments that fluoresce from high-frequency capacitance — and of course they are notoriously pretty, and I think they evoke a speed limit sign nicely.
Q: Have you started demonstrating the Speed Vest? How has that been going?
Brady: I’ve just begun riding the vest for the year because I really want to catch people on the way home from work, and it’s only now getting dark enough to really stand out. That, and this is a time of year when bicycles are harder to see!
Reaction from wearing the vest around Minneapolis and St. Paul has been incredible from bicyclists but actually a little underwhelming from motorists. What I mean is that I would really like to hear the reactions from people in their cars, but I’m realizing what a barrier to communicating cars really are, unless you’re at a stop sign with the window rolled down. One of the reasons why Mykle and I love riding our bikes so much, besides getting places faster, is that we’re more likely to see (and be seen) by people we know and interact more with our respective communities when we’re out and about.
Q: What are the benefits of integrating technology into the clothes we wear?
Mykle: It’s a step towards making digital technology invisible. Like, the buttons on your shirt are a technology, but you don’t think about that when you put your shirt on. Digital technology can do amazing things for us, but we need to get over being impressed — oooh, there’s a microcontroller in your shirt! — and get on with making these sorts of devices as useful and unobtrusive as possible.
Q: Do you think hi-tech clothing will become arising trend? Why or why not?
Mykle: Clothing is a highly advanced technology with thousands of years of R&D behind it. This is just the latest step.
Q: There are other concepts that integrate lighting technology and clothes for people on bikes. But do you see the potential for this kind of concept to transfer into other sports or even other purposes besides physical activity?
Mykle: Interestingly, we’ve been contacted by runners who want to wear the vest in races. How we do the speedometer for that, I don’t yet know, but it’s great that people see this invention and come up with uses we couldn’t have predicted. Motorcyclists have also expressed interest, and I for one would love to see Speed Vests in races.
Brady: I’ve heard from people that want to use it for walking, jogging and running- any time you’re out there sharing the streets with cars there’s an opportunity to make yourself more visible and educate others about other viable ways for getting around. I don’t know how fast your average skateboarder or rollerblader goes, but I’ve seen them pass cars downtown on my way to work.
Q: What is the next step with this project?
Mykle: We have a long list of improvements for the next version of the vest: manufacturability, ease of use, improved daytime visibility, and integration with other bike inventions we’re working on.
Brady: Meanwhile we’re trying to learn how it can best be used as an advocacy tool for bicycling. I don’t mean racing- I’m talking about sharing the road safely with motorists. Mykle and I are both lucky to live in cities that have invested in building and retrofitting streets to be more amenable to biking on. Unfortunately even in Portland (#1 bike city in the nation) and Minneapolis (#2) there are missing connections in what would be an ideal network. I’m hoping that by riding the Speed Vest in these areas of deficit that we could lay the groundwork for making these connections before any pen hits paper or paint hits the street.
The #1 and #2 stats come from a recent US Census.
Q: Are you and Mykle working another concept that involves technology and garments?
Mykle: We have many ideas but not enough time!
Brady: Maybe some comfy socks then, that pause time?
Mykle: Time socks! Patent applied for!
