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Use smartphone as rear mirror


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Now that I have mounted my smartphone in a holder on my arm, I thought it could be really smart if it would bee possible
via a small wifi or bt camera mounted on the helmet or wheel, to get a livestream picture of what is going on behind,
presented on my phone (Android).  Anyone having experience to share?
There are lots of small cameras for sale, but which of these work (well) and have long enough battery life for a 2-4 hours ride? 
In addition; How about mounting on helmet or wheel?

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Portable-Camera-Android/s?k=Wireless+Portable+Camera+for+Android

 

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Cool idea! Not sure how long the phone's battery will last if the screen is on the entire time (though you can choose when it is on), but this is a really cool idea.

I would use some velcro to mount the camera on the back of the helmet. Higher = better visibility, and you can easily adjust the field of view by choosing your preferred spot on the helmet. All you need is to glue two velcro pieces to the camera and helmet.

No idea which camera to use though.

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  • 1 month later...

Whatever happened to that motorcycle helmet company that had like an AR setup in it. Think it was called skull or something like that? Regardless it looked pretty slick, but i last track of it after I left the motorcycle world.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm pleased with my helmet mounted mirror.

I'll be the first to buy AppleGlasses, which will use hand gestures, I assume Darkness-bot will show speed, temp, and battery life. Rear view camera?

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  • 11 months later...

image.thumb.jpg.74e548b094e8f1afbe710388af09b935.jpgThese little dome mirrors are my rear-view technology. It was $6 USD for the pair of them at the auto parts store. I might print some TPU bezel replacements that are slightly wedge-shaped, as the angle required at the wrist isn’t quite comfortable. As it is, they’re just sitting flat, stuck on my Triple 8 Hired Hands wrist guards (I’m really happy with those). It’s funny how quickly drivers seem to understand that I’m looking at them as I raise my arm to use the mirror. I wear a modular motorcycle helmet when riding long distance on the road, and it does limit sideward visibility. These really help.

Edited by rS22
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A three inch or so diameter convex mirror does the job very well and inexpensively, I find I can attach it to a short length of cord attached to a finger band so as not to lose it, and I personally prefer to hold it in the palm of my wrist guarded/gloved hand so it can be more easily positioned than I found I could than when having it mounted on the back of the hand, which I found a little less natural and more awkward to get the proper rear view sufficiently quickly, that was after trying the back of the hand position for some time.  Though I did try a couple of helmet mounted mirrors, I always found them to be just a bit too blurry and the image somewhat small and indistinct with them, due to their smaller size. 

 

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Yeah, admittedly, the image in these smaller mirrors isn’t as nice as I’d like. I may go up to 3”. I’ll keep trying the back of the hand, with some 3D printed mounts to tilt the mirror into a better position

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I'm not so keen on the hand-mounted mirrors. They are quite awkward to quickly find precisely the right angle in use, and their proximity to the hand means they tend to get scratched up a lot easier than helmet mounted ones. I would also avoid making wedged shaped inserts for it because then it becomes difficult to get things out of pockets whilst wearing it, which is why this sort of material-based tilt system works rather better...

image.thumb.png.3f3821933590349d80109c34c9896b54.png

This particular model is under 5 pounds, and has lasted a good 8 months OK so far, though the velcro definitely isn't the best I've ever seen.

Although I still have mine, and take it with me as a spare, I still prefer my helmet mirrors, by a long mile, and if you do have a modular helmet with a peak they are a very cheap and easy solution to fit 1 per side for pretty good rear visibility. I was going to try and investigate some sort of elaborate rear-view cam system, but if I am honest I am happy enough with the helmet mirrors to not feel that need any longer...

image.thumb.png.3919a473a554d4241306cb1cde16f5d7.png

 

Edited by Cerbera
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I second @Cerbera and really only use helmet mounted mirrors now for exactly the same reasons he mentioned. 🤣 I do alter the ones I have though. I stick a slightly larger flat mirror over the convex one as I don’t like the distortion and can’t judge the distance as well. Plus it gives a bigger area to see. 

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8 hours ago, CDINPHX said:

I'm still baffled why you can't just turn your head around every now and then, I hate having anything strapped to my wrists, I cannot even stand the wrist guards. 

 

Steve

it's pitch dark, you are riding on a road where cars are coming from behind at 50 mph, the "bike lane" where you are riding is 2 feet wide... nice to have a rear view to se upcoming cars before they suddenly pass you at 50 mph and 2 feet away, and especially nice to be able to look backward without turning head, because there is no room for small errors.

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Why not use a Garmin Varia radar as they are excellent and I would never ride an ebike/bicycle without one.
 

You can use the phone as the display or another display unit on your other wrist/front of the unicycle 

p13402-garmin-varia-radar-display-unit.j

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4 hours ago, Robse said:

it's pitch dark, you are riding on a road where cars are coming from behind at 50 mph, the "bike lane" where you are riding is 2 feet wide... nice to have a rear view to se upcoming cars before they suddenly pass you at 50 mph and 2 feet away, and especially nice to be able to look backward without turning head, because there is no room for small errors.

Too each there own. I don’t find this to be an issue. Not knocking it just don’t see it as a need. Likley because I rode bikes and bicycles in cities for years. 

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4 hours ago, Spiwrs said:

Why not use a Garmin Varia radar as they are excellent and I would never ride an ebike/bicycle without one.
 

You can use the phone as the display or another display unit on your other wrist/front of the unicycle 

p13402-garmin-varia-radar-display-unit.j

This is pretty slick!  I’d much prefer that then mirrors on the helmet or wrist. 

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1 hour ago, CDINPHX said:

Too each there own. I don’t find this to be an issue. Not knocking it just don’t see it as a need. Likley because I rode bikes and bicycles in cities for years. 

yeah 😉, i guess it's just and old habit i have from driving motorcycle on the freeway, it's always nice to keep an eye on what's coming up from behind.

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1 hour ago, Robse said:

yeah 😉, i guess it's just and old habit i have from driving motorcycle on the freeway, it's always nice to keep an eye on what's coming up from behind.

You must have had bikes that didn’t vibrate or they were dampened? I found the mirrors on every bike I had to be useless and the vibrations from the engines made it hard to see what was really going on. Hence why I just started to shoulder check all the time, never bothered using mirrors after that  

 

 

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36 minutes ago, CDINPHX said:

You must have had bikes that didn’t vibrate or they were dampened? I found the mirrors on every bike I had to be useless and the vibrations from the engines made it hard to see what was really going on. Hence why I just started to shoulder check all the time, never bothered using mirrors after that  

 

 

I have alway had Japanese or German motorcycle - therefore no vibrations, no "falling of by themself" screws... ;)  Shoulder checking with a full face helmet and getting a good view does not compute, maybe to the sides, but not backwards.

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  • 5 months later...

This is the best smartphone with rear view: Motorola Razr plus! Samsung makes one similar. You can watch behind you or if you like, record. Love it. Battery lasts all day, no bluetooth connection issue, works with all wheel apps--EUC world, Darknessbot, Wheelog, KingSong, InMotion, LK,,,dtc. !

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