Now here is something that is quite literally going to make you stand out of the crowds on a street! A startup company out of Northern California is offering bikers a set of LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights which they can attach to their wheels to create some really spectacular light shows!
MonkeyLectric’s Monkey Light Pro can create a LED light show which is either static or animated using a phenomenon called “persistence of vision” due to which human brain interprets and organizes flashing lights as recognizable images. Monkey light pro comes as 4 LED strips which are installed onto your bike’s wheels. The device requires you to be moving between 10 MPH to 40 MPH in order to start generating decipherable images on your bike wheel’s surface area.
MonkeyLectric started off as a Kickstarter Campaign where they are trying to raise $180,000 for their product. As of Sunday, 2nd June, 2013 they have raised $84,500 from backers who are excited about the prospects of branding their bike rides with unique animations. A limited number of these backers will also be getting the Monkey Light Pro at an early bird price of $695.
Once the lights are installed, you can switch between some of the preloaded animations, however you can also add custom made animations via USB which you can use to charge the strips as well.
While these lights will no doubt be well received by the bicycle market (the kickstarter campaign funding seems to be proving that), one potential unwanted side-effect of these devices can be the distraction they will cause to other people driving cars or motorbikes on the road.
What do you people think? Is the Monkey Light Pro something you will want to install in your bike?