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Comment by endisneigh | Hacker News Reader

yes I read that. can't you just look down when it's safe?

In city traffic it's never save while you are moving, bike lanes are frequently intruded by parking or moving cars, or pedestrians if they are part of the sidewalk instead. And outside of bike lanes you're a car without crumple zones, not a good situation to look anywhere but the street either.

For leisure biking you obviously choose paths where it doesn't matter.

I get that, but wouldn't it be worse having stuff obscure your vision, especially at night where I assume it would be illuminated? reducing your ability to see dark things at night (assuming it works at night).

I guess I don't understand why you need to see your heart rate and speed constantly. presumably any device (bike computer or phone) could just record your position and speed and you could just look later if you cared.

Heart rate and power (in watts) are used as a measure of how hard you’re going. During intervals you’re almost always trying to target a specific heart rate zone and stay there. During long climbs, elite riders know how many watts they’re capable of making and for how long. Watts then become a way to pace yourself and avoid going too hard. Same with heart rate

interesting - thanks for the reply.

If the usage is meant in the city where as you mentioned the focus is on avoiding all kinds of obstacles, having the heart rate occupying display estate is at best meaningless and at worst dangerous.

> having stuff obscure your vision

With the Augmented Reality headset I have, darker shades (obscuring the environment) improve the visibility of the "augmentational" displayed elements, but it is not necessary, and very probably unrequired when the information is concise (e.g heart rate value, as opposed to an essay).

> why you need to see your heart rate and speed constantly [...] record ... and ... look later

You do not get "feedback" if you check later. Real time feedback is different from "next-day analysis".

>yes I read that, but is that a problem? can't you just look down when it's safe?

I didn't downvote your comments but have you heard of HUD and why those augmented displays exist in some airplanes?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-up_display

My car has a HUD and it is a game changer for me. I won't go back to a car without one.

I only wish the navigational info from my Android Car would be piped in there as well, as (with my current model) only onboard navigation works with the HUD.

But my eyes never leave the road. Even when it might be safe, something might occur the exact moment, I am looking down to check the speed or something.

So for me it is a massive improvement in safety.

seems like it's most common in aircrafts. I feel that the situation there is completely different.

Not really, cyclists try to keep a steady cadence as they go along. It'd be quite liberating to be able to keep an eye on how you're tracking without having to regularly glance down at a little computer thing.

I think they are more focused on power nowadays. The "screenshot" shows speed, power and distance.

HUDs are good for when it can be unsafe to look away from what's going on around you. That includes flying in formation, close to the ground or in combat, and cycling.

Yes. Aircraft are much less liable to get hit by something if they look down for a moment.

Pilots in a tight formation are very likely to hit someone else if they glance away. Or even hit the ground. I’ve witnessed a pilot crash while flying inverted close to the ground. Certain kinds of flying require an extremely high level of concentration.

It would be helpful in some situations. Especially when you're trying to execute a structured workout or race pacing plan based on power or heart rate while avoiding potholes and dodging other cyclists.

This is for doing interval training. When I go out for a ride for instance I have a file from my training platform (Today's Plan) loaded on my bike computer. It queues me to the intervals I'll be doing. Each interval has a target power range (in Watts), heart rate range, and cadence. I can see all those targets and my actual values for those stats on screen at the same time on my bike computer (aka head unit). Glancing down at it is not perfect; I'd love having all this info as a heads up display. I was thinking about switching from glasses to contacts just so I could get sunglasses too, so this is coming out at the right time for me.

Not really, but you might get bullied other cyclists/fans.

https://chrisfroomelookingatstems.tumblr.com/

When you’re mountain biking is certainly a problem. Doing intervals or racing on a really tight, twisty, and bumpy trail, not only do you have less time to look at your computer, it’s moving around so much relative to your eyes that it takes a bit longer just find it and focus on it. Sometimes it takes me 2-3 tries to read my heart rate data on especially technical sections.

Road biking though, I really struggle to see the value. But it’s cool and like some other post said, bikers will spend exorbitant amounts of money on marginal gains.

Whoever has been teaching everyone that the only way to make money is to "solve a problem" really needs to stop with this nonsense already.

nobody claimed that, so i'm not sure why you mention it. you know it's possible for someone to actually just not understand right?

It is a problem at higher speeds (>40 km/h) so in sprints or more typically in downhills.

In downhills live data aren’t really that useful. If it showed a live map, that would be very useful.

it's a problem not having the data in front of you at high speeds? I don't get it. wouldn't it be unsafe having stuff obscure your vision constantly?

Have you used or seen a HUD before? For example if you play video games, how many times might someone die while looking away from the screen? What about compared to glancing at their health, or Ammo? While the uninitiated think a HUD blocks your vision, it actually rests in a position (and is translucent) in such a way that you see through it and any glance would be milliseconds comparer to seconds of looking away. Plus your peripheral vision. Would notice changes to things while looking at the HUD compared to looking completely away.

yes I used Google Glass for a year. it definitely obscures your vision compared to not using it.

it's funny you mention games because most games I've been playing have been moving away from having a HUD visible all of the time, and only show it contextually.

I tend to believe from other people's reports (also in this page) that Google Glass works differently from more recent systems. Translucent augmentational data, augmentational data and environment co-present and just eye-focus away in focus do not seem to obscure the vision. Personal experience, though not used at high speeds.

Nobody looks at their watts or speed while sprinting or descenting.

I like having my speed up for funsies so I know when I'm breaking the limit, but that's about it. The page on my head unit I use for structured training rides doesn't even have speed.

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