Laser-Projected GPS Directions Should Be a Standard Feature on Every Bicycle

Even though Apple didn't call out bikes specifically, anyone who's ever tried to attach a phone to a bike knows it can be dangerous. It's cool to have a big arrow projected on the road ahead of you while you're out for a ride.

Lasers can be used with bicycles in a number of clever ways. A decade ago companies were integrating them into bike taillights to project virtual lane markers on the road around a cyclist to create a virtual safe space that drivers and other cyclists will subconsciously stay clear of. We've seen laser projectors added to bike headlights to project a highly visible warning on the road about 20 feet in front of riders so that pedestrians and cars will see them coming before they see the actual bicycle.

This solution uses lasers for a combination of safety and convenience, providing cyclists with easy-to-read directions while they keep their eyes on the road at all times, instead of requiring them to glance down at a phone screen or a smart watch.

The LaserCube is a projector that uses a laser light source to create images, text, and even animations. The cheapest version of the LaserCube is just shy of $1,000, and it is much larger than other bike-mounted gps satnavs. Are you following a big glowing arrow? It's almost worth the risk of trying to unmount the LaserCube from your bike and putting it in a backpack when it starts to rain.

The big appeal of the LaserCube is that it can be connected to other mobile apps, but Wicked Lasers doesn't go into specific details about how it was created. In this case, the distance and direction information is being pulled from a mapping app on a phone. Is it the best way to get there? Anyone who has ever tried to navigate with just a compass will tell you. It's much more useful to have turn-by-turn street directions. It would be worth the upgrade if this idea could be refined further and built into a bike's handlebars.