The biohack.me forums were originally run on Vanilla and ran from January 2011 to July 2024. They are preserved here as a read-only archive. If you had an account on the forums and are in the archive and wish to have either your posts anonymized or removed entirely, email us and let us know.
While we are no longer running Vanilla, Patreon badges are still being awarded, and shoutout forum posts are being created, because this is done directly in the database via an automated task.
Helmet
After receiving a concussion I thought that maybe it would be wise to wear a helmet more often, well I realized that I could just wear one most of the time, especially if it looked cool and had extra functions.
I want to create a helmet that looks like a scifi helmet (mass effect, titanfall, halo, etc.) and that;
- Protects my head (able to decrease force from impact by significant degree, maybe even bulletproof)
- Can filter the air I breath (does not need to be super extreme filter, just filter out general junk, the better the filter the more pleased I am, but if it becomes too bulky/expensive then it is unnecessary)
- Has a HUD with my vitals on it. I would wear some sensors, such as HR monitor to have some cool biofeedback, maybe also include other information.
- Maybe even have it be a digital display where there are cameras on the front and maye back of the helmet that then are displayed on the interior screen, where maybe I have voice commands set up for some different things.
- Possibly have the helmet be as sound proof as possible and have microphones where my ears would be, then inside the helmet speakers, so that I can modify the noise around me to be how I want it to be.
I understand this would be rather difficult (at least including all of the bullets) and that it could even be a touch silly. Yet, I find this a rather intriguing pursuit and think it will help contribute to becoming a cyborg. Any tips would be greatly appreciated as I don't really know where to start for this. I can imagine a lot of the work might be done on an arduino, but I simply don't know the feasibility of modifying noises of the world around you and having the cameras on the helmet.
Thanks.
Comments
Displaying all 15 comments
-
You may have more luck with building the helmet on a cosplay related forum. As for a few of your points. About vitals, getting blood oxygen and pulse from year earlobe would be pretty easy using oximetry. For noise blocking you may want to look into regular closed type headphones. For selective noise blocking and filtering i certainly recommend digital signal processing. It's a difficult topic since you can potentially block vital sounds that would warn you from lethal dangers too so better be careful with that. About filtering your air you probably want to simply fit a respirator. Sealing the entire helmet towards the neck sucks unless you seal it to a full body suit. One option are regular respirators (good vs dirt particles of various sizes, maybe consider active carbon to get some protection against organic chemical compounds). Those usually only cover mouth and nose and leave the eyes exposed. The alternative would be supplied air respirators which require a canister of compressed air. Those models usually cover the entire face. They are great if you need to escape fumed/burning areas but the air supply typically lasts only a few minutes.HUD's are a bit of a fun thing as they are pretty easy to build but very few companies actually sell them. a small display, semitransparent mirror and a lens are enough to make a smallish HUD in a corner of your vision.It's cool stuff for sure, not really cyborg/transhuman/biohacking as of my personal definition tho. Having a functional helmet for a given game/movie franchise you could probably sell it for a small fortune, or show off at conventions.
-
I think that is a pretty cool idea if you can pull it off, and honestly, I think it is a lot more feasible than a lot of the other ideas floating around on this forum :)
-
So here's a little prioritization sheet I worked out, it is not exactly in order, and maybe you all have some suggestions on what might be more critical to design and functionality.Prioritization1. Functionalitya. Head protectiona1. Padding/Inertia dampenera2. Sturdy/solid/bulletproofb. Control of phone through bluetoothb1. In helmet speakersb2. In helmet microphoneb3. Voice controlc. Control of other systems such as screensc1. Voice control of screensc2. Screen modificationc3. Screen HUD and other functions (maybe GPS map, time, etc.)d. Camera viewd1. Camera live to screen with little to no latencyd1a. 360 degree view compressed to 180 degree screen (maybe)d2. Computer control of camera feedd2a. Visuals, different HUDse. Sound modulatione1. Sound cancellinge2. Sound reproduction at low to no latencye3. Sound modificatione3a. Changing pitche3b. Change decibel levelse3c. Change relative level of external soundsf. The HUDf1. Display of vitalsf1a. Heart rate, oxygenation, etc. (Requires some monitor)f2. Display of time and other running interestsf3. Display of current location on google maps/GPS systemg. Air Filtrationg1. Filtration of air, relatively high qualityg2. Seal on head or seal over mouth and nose or full body suit that connects to helmeth. Extra Features2. Stylea. Look goodb. Look like popular sci-fi mediac. Does not interfere with functionality and accents functionality
-
So modify a motorcycle helmet?
-
If its going to be bullt proof then you'd need to start with a ballistic helmet. LINK That will generally include padding/intertia damper. It may be possible to use bullet proof glass for the face shield, although you could also have it completely enclosed. The latter would mean complete blindness of your sensors failed for any reason.Also, heat is going to be an issue. With no cooling you're going to be sweating so bad that you'll get easily dehydrated.
-
@Cathasach There are motorcycle helmets with integrated fans but I doubt that would fit the desired use since they want filtered air. You might could rig it with water pipes. Some race drivers have suits that pipe water through it to cool them.
-
@cathasach Good point. I will need to consider some cooling mechanism, maybe as @_Larry_ mentions and use water cooling, but that seems excessively difficult. I was thinking instead of a face shield go with full enclosure and no face shield, like you mentioned this presents the issue of component failure causing blindness.
-
Gonna have to maintain it yourself too, unless you know a good helmet mechanic...
-
oh and I wouldn't bet on a 180 degree high resolution full color HUD/Display. Unless you want to spend several thousand bucks on your display.Instead I'd recommend smaller versions. This company might be of interest to you: http://www.reconinstruments.comHowever, if you have the cash and maybe the right connections you could start off with the real thing and just buy a BAE Systems Striker II helmet. Did I mention it comes with night vision buildin? No idea what it costs but I'd be very surprised if you couldn't exchange it for a small house with garden.
-
Haha, fair points. I was thinking it might be a broken display, so have somewhere around nine screens.
-
I was thinking I might use old cell phone screens, since my family keeps our old phones. The phone screens should be high enough resolution.
-
Most phone screens are difficult to drive. Usually you are better off with a module with dedicated connections to be wired up to an arduino. Those are easy to control and pretty affordable. You may want to check out something like 15 to 35 mm sized OLED displays. Low resolution but probably good enough for vitals and stuff
-
I always thought about the idea of making a motorcycle helmet with indicators of all kinds. but I came to the conclusion that the human eye does not distinguish well the lights of the display so close, blurring of focus and so. The issue of sound is that at high speeds the turbulence of the hull makes background noise and it is difficult for a microphone to separate the sound from the environment of the voice. Right now I'm taking some electronic classes to be able to make a prototype. but there are many things to keep in mind
-
Yo if u r thinking you will get in a gunfight u will be much more likely to be hit in the torso/adimin and you can se this for your self by just running around your head bobs around to much for a normal person to aim on that it’s just as hard for a some one to shot someone in the arm/ legs
-
It wold look cool as hell tho
Displaying all 15 comments