How Arena PLM Helped Scale the First Augmented Reality Bike Helmet

Almost 15 months after raising millions on Indiegogo to become the site’s most successful crowdfunding campaign to date, the SKULLY AR-1 augmented reality motorcycle helmet is now, ahem, a reality. A few weeks ago the helmet was showcased to acclaim at CES 2016.

The SKULLY AR-1 is the world’s first augmented reality motorcycle helmet. Equipped with a revolutionary heads-up display system, 180 degree rearview blind spot camera, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and smartphone pairing with voice control, the DOT-certified AR-1 is the most technologically advanced motorcycle helmet ever created. SKULLY’s showcasing of the helmet at CES coincides with the company’s delivery of the first batch of AR-1 helmets to its customers.

“As the first AR-1s are now hitting the road, I can think of no other place I’d rather showcase our helmets than at CES,” said Dr. Marcus Weller, founder & CEO, SKULLY. “CES is the pinnacle of vision and innovation, with inspiring technology everywhere you look. We look forward to sharing our innovation with conference attendees and letting them experience for themselves our vision for a smarter motorcycle riding experience.”

Marcus’s brother, Mitch Weller, is the co-founder. They both look cool in motorcycle jackets. What’s also cool is some of the accolades the company has received from the press. Check these out:

• “The most anticipated motorcycle helmet ever produced” – Road & Track
• “The beginning of a motorcycle tech revolution.” – Popular Mechanics
• “THE helmet for the digital age” – Popular Science
• “…the potential… to save lives, to make our daily existences a little bit easier” – CNN
• “This helmet is going to change the future of racing.” – Steve Huff, Harley Davidson Landspeed Record Holder

So, how did a company like SKULLY get their forward-thinking product to market? They chose Arena PLM to manage their bill of materials (BOM).

When it comes to building a product, the bill of materials is the single most important deliverable that an engineering team hands off to a manufacturing team. At its simplest conceptual level, the BOM is a list of parts needed to create a finished product. In real-world usage, however, the BOM is not just a parts list—it is a complex collection of individual pieces of information and the relationships between them. In addition to describing a wide variety of parts and how they relate to one another within a product, the BOM is also a vendor list that specifies how huge sums of money are spent.

Even a product seemingly as simple as a motorcycle helmet can have several sophisticated parts that need to be brought together in a single version of the truth to ship to market. Here are the tech specs for the helmet:

• Lightweight, aerodynamic polycarbonate shell
• Ultra-wide angle rearview camera
• DOT/ECE safety certification
• SKULLY anti-fog, anti-scratch, anti-glare visor
• SKULLY Synapse(TM) Vision Enhancement – shows true-to-life imaging of rearview panorama
• Audio/Visual GPS Navigation
• SKULLY Synapse(TM) Smart Heads up Display System with infinite focus
• SKULLY quick release chin strap and visor
• 3D laser-cut foam for a perfect fit
• Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone
• Internet connectivity via smartphone
• Over-the-air updates — download new features as they are released

Arena PLM helps companies, such as SKULLY, who are at that interesting intersection where automotive suppliers meets high tech solution, manage complexity with a cloud-based product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that streamlines manufacturing processes. The solution also provides manufacturers with visibility into the latest technologies, materials and processes, enabling smarter decisions that result in better products.

We at Arena stand in the reflective glory of SKULLY’s recent success at CES. Stay tuned for more CES news coming soon.