The Skully smart helmet is back

THE history of motorcycling is littered with the remains of seemingly brilliant ideas that never became anything more. For a while the Skully AR-1 smart helmet looked set to join them.

But now it’s back, with the new name Skully Fenix AR (as in rising from the ashes?) and the promise that it will be even better than the one that never happened. Which, when you think about, wouldn’t be difficult.

For those that don’t remember, the Skully AR-1 was going to feature a transparent head-up display, showing information at a ‘perceptual distance’ of 10 feet in front of the rider. It was going to have a 180° rear-view camera, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, smartphone pairing capability and voice control.

Skully Incorporated raised £1.4 million in pre-orders, breaking the crowdfunding record on Indiegogo.com, before announcing in 2016 that it was to cease operations immediately and would not be able to ship helmets.

Now, under new management and with the new company name Skully Technologies, the project is back, the technology site cnet.com reports, with the promise that those who paid the full $1,399 price of the AR-1 will receive a Fenix AR this summer. It’s not clear how this will affect anyone who put down the £499 needed to reserve an AR-1.

The new helmet has all the features originally promised but with ‘enhanced performance and specs’ according to the company. It promises ‘360° awareness’ music streaming and hands-free calling.

Now all they have to do is deliver it.