ford creates 'emoji jacket' that lets cyclists share their moods with drivers
carmaker ford has designed an ‘emoji jacket’ that could make cycling on the road more much safer. featuring a large led panel on the back, the prototype product allows the user to display their mood and therefore communicate much easier with drivers.
images courtesy of ford
ford created the jacket in partnership with industrial design specialists designworks, as part of its share the road campaign, which wants to encourage more people to cycle safely. on the back, it displays big emoji icons as well as indicators and a hazard signal to demonstrate a rider’s movements and possible dangers ahead. the function is controlled via a wireless remote mounted to the bike’s handlebars.
‘as someone who frequently travels on both two wheels and four wheels, I have experienced first‑hand many of the frustrations – and dangers – that drivers and cyclists encounter on our roads today,’ said ford’s president and CEO of EMEA, steven armstrong. ‘the safe integration of increasingly diverse modes of transportation is key to how we make our cities safer and easier for everyone to get about in, now and in the future.’
other share the road initiatives include wheelswap, a virtual reality experience that allows you to see the world from either a cyclist’s or a driver’s point of view. it’s aim is to promote driver and cyclist harmony by encouraging both to make positive changes to the way they tackle the road.
’emojis have become a fundamental part of how we use language,’ explains emoji expert dr. neil cohn PHD,about the popularity of emojis. ‘whether used to convey facial expressions, humour, or sarcasm, they have become integral to our ability to express ourselves and quickly. this jacket created in partnership with ford share the road allows riders to express their feelings and creates an important emotional link between them and other road users.’
project info
company: ford
name: emoji jacket
collaborator: designworks
campaign: share the road
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I’m an offroad who has very bad luck finding road cyclists in any mood other than on the verge of a rage |:-{} . This will gift me the great joy of seeing their moods front and back….thanks, techish designer
Hey guys I’m the owner of a bicycle shop & a lifelong bike commuter myself. Someone from the GRG shared this info w- me. I think you maybe on to something but if I could offer you some feedback as a bike commuter I would have to say that the remote h-bar controls are completely impractical. Perfect example of what I’m talking about here is this morning while riding into shop, I’m at a stop light doing a track stand in a shared multi use lane. So basically one lane is for traffic going straight as well as people wanting to make a right hand turn. So I’m going straight & the car behind me was wanting to go right, obviously he couldn’t. So this person just lays there horn on & starts screaming, again I’m doing a track stand so I’m not about to unclip & put my foot down just so I can push the unhappy emoji face w/ the h-bar button! At this point the driver is well aware that I’m alreay not happy w/ them!!! So possibly having a voice activating system would be much more practical. Also I do a lot of big community rides & the last thing most of these riders need to be doing is trying to push buttons instead of holding onto bars. It would also be cool if you could actually choose & program your own emojis into jacket. Somewhat personalize what you want to convey to the drivers! Anyways just my 2cents! Good luck!
This is good in theory. Bad in practice. Having ridden all over the world and also riding in Sydney Australia, something like this would make you a target for angry motorists who feel like you’re slowing them down. It wouldn’t make you safer. Plus LUMOS helmets already indicate and draw attention to your head in the right way. This also doesn’t work for road cyclists who bend over their bikes in a more aero position. The best thing to get motorists to behave themselves and take notice of you – a camera strapped to your head and a sign on your back saying ‘You are being filmed’