Oakley, Recon and newbie RideOn are focused on sci-fi AR ski goggles in a big way. But they seem to have missed a trick - a lot of skiiers and snowboarders won't want to be bothered by information in their eyelines when they're hurtling down the slopes.
Essential reading: RideOn AR ski goggles hit Indiegogo
That doesn't mean they're happy with regular, dumb snow gear. And so we come to the brilliant Forcite Alpine. The founder of Australian company Forcite, Alfred Boyadgis, claims this is the world's first smart snow helmet.
It has a camera on the front which captures Full HD 1080p footage, a rugged mic for chatting with friends, an altimeter to log heights and performance and an emergency beacon to send GPS locations automatically upon intense impact. There's also stereo speakers to play music from your smartphone via Bluetooth - everything is controlled via the Forcite Alpine onboard AI and app.
It sounds like a dream bit of kit for gadget loving skiiers. The unspecified built-in camera has image stabilisation, can capture 120fps footage for slow mo replays and has a wide angle 160 degree lens. The mic has noise cancelling and works over Bluetooth 4.0. The emergency beacon can be triggered manually as well as on impact. And any performance you log can be sent to third party apps.
"Imagine this technology as a superhuman companion who guides and captures your adventures," said Boyadgis. The press release also stated that Boyadgis and his team think this is "the biggest revolution to the ski slope" since the ski lift - nice to see they are keeping the hype under control.
We'll update you with price and release date details of the Forcite Alpine when we get them. Right now the website says 'launching 2015' and you can register your interest in the device via an email form.
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