A little while back I wrote about the Cosmo Smart AR visor, which shows some basic information like speed and direction indicators in the visor. A bit of a different take on this is the Revan. First and foremost this is a dash cam, like many you see in cars as well, loop recording whatever is happening in front of you, mainly for safety/evidence reasons should you be involved in an accident.
A motorcycle dash cam is not something new. There are quite some out there already. For a good one, have a look at this review video by 2WheelObsession. However, except for the Revan being helmet-mounted (in stead of motorcycle-mounted), it is much more than just a dash cam.
Motorcycle dash cam, action cam, com set and head up display
The Revan is made specifically for motorcycle riding and it’s actually a dash cam, action cam, com set and head up display in one! That’s a whole lot of features packed in a single product:
- First of all, it has a front ánd rear camera, recording not only what’s happening in front of you, but also what’s happening behind you.
- It’s camera quality is above what most dash cams have to offer, opening up other uses for the videos that you shoot ( think GoPro )
- It has a remote that can be mounted on the handle bars (to start recording)
- It comes with a headset (speakers and microphone that can be installed in your helmet), enabling group calling ( think Sena )
- It features a Head Up Display (HUD), which displays all kinds of useful information as it integrates with your phone. The HUD can even show a view of the rear-camera so you can see what’s going on behind you.
For more details have a look at this promotional video of the Revan:
Where to get one?
So, where can you get the Revan? Well, you can’t, YET! It doesn’t exist, YET! The Revan is a Kickstarter project. It’s already been fully funded and then some, but you can still back the project by pre-ordering the Revan for $700 USD (retail price will be $1000).
Should you get one?
Before you put down your money, please consider my reservations about this project:
- It wouldn’t be the first Kickstarter project that failed to deliver
- Revan is definitely not the first in the market. Back in 2018 I wrote an article in our newsletter about HUD helmets and systems. Some of those projects no longer exist, while others are still going strong.
- The rechargeable batteries, although claimed to be good for about 10 to 12 hours, are quite huge to mount to your helmet. I wonder how it would impact weight, wind drag and wind noise.
Honestly, if it were my money I would not spend it on a Revan just yet. Although it’s very promising and the sum of a separate high quality dash cam, action cam and com set would definitely be more than $700, I would wait for a second generation product; First of all to see if Revan, unlike some of its early competitors, has the stamina to make it to a 2nd gen product and secondly, because there are bound to be some teething problems with a new high tech product like this, which would probably be resolved in a 2nd gen product.
So, all in all very promising, but too early for me to spend my money on. However, @Revan, if you would send three test sets over for Tom, Jasper and me, we would be happy to give them a spin and write about our findings! 🙂
