This “smart helmet” startup was the winner at the competition at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive festival.
Skully has already been making technology news headlines with its augmented reality motorcycle helmets, but now they have been boosting their recognition after having been named the best wearable tech company at the SXSW festival.
This smart helmet managed to win above 47 other competitors in the six award categories.
Aside from wearable tech, the other categories were health, entertainment/content, social, enterprise/big data, and innovative world technologies. Each category was narrowed down to three teams, but only the winners brought home the coveted award and the $4,000 prize that went with it.
Skully Helmets was proud to bring home its wearable tech prize for being deemed best in that category.
These augmented reality motorcycle helmets were created by the startup based in the Silicon Valley. The device features a 180 degree rear view camera which then projects the images from behind the wearer onto a transparent headset display. This allows the wearer to be able to see both the real world in front of him or her, as well as what is going on behind. Without having to turn his or her head, the wearer will be able to see what is going on all the way around.
Skully has designed its wearables to help to change the definition of helmets, so that they aren’t just meant for “the sake of saving your head when you hit the ground.” Instead, the company is hoping to make the entire riding experience much safer. While the prototype of this device was meant for motorcycle riding, the company has also started to see a considerable demand for other applications, such as skiing, cycling, and even from the military.
Among the other finalists in the wearable tech category, which didn’t manage to bring home the big prize, was the developer of the Nymi fitness tracker that confirms identity through the wearer’s biorhythms (such as heartbeat and rhythms), Bionym, from Toronto, Canada, as well as Pauline van Dongen from the Netherlands, who created garments with solar cell integration.
