VANMOOF H-001

H-001 is a smart helmet concept for the Dutch bike brand Vanmoof. This project is the continuation of 10 week design strategy studio at TU Delft in the Netherlands. The course focused on finding market space for the brand to expand into using the Vision in Product Design method. H-001 is a personal project imagining how Vanmoof can capitalize on the opportunity identified by the study done at Delft. The reports from the initial studio can be viewed below.

H-001 is designed to fit into the modern, urban brand language that Vanmoof design embodies. The images below are of the company’s current flagship bike, the Electrified S2 (images via Vanmoof)

To understand potential new product spaces for the brand, strengths and opportunities (market trends) were assessed and plotted. The intersections revealed 10 opportunity areas for the brand to investigate, which were further narrowed to 3.

The final direction was narrowed to a smart bicycle helmet for urban commuting by evaluating Vanmoof’s general competition versus competition in each of the 3 opportunity areas identified.

A survey was given to 36 users to evaluate the features of a bike helmet ideally desired versus the features perceived from the most prominent competition in the market segment, the brands Brooks, Lumos, and Fend.

 Based on this data, I began sketching around a smart bike helmet designed in the clean, urban brand language of Vanmoof with the desired preventative safety features of on-board lighting and unobtrusive navigational guidance.

The final design features the same stark aesthetic the bike brand is known for, with their soft transitions and simple geometry.

The rear of the helmet houses an LED dot matrix that syncs with the smart bike to warn vehicles and other bikers of stopping, slowing, and turning.

The helmet also features bone conduction speakers to allow the rider to hear traffic loudly and clearly while still providing navigation guidance or the ability to play music.