A bike with a purple brain and a sharp eye
Posted September 24th, 2008 at 9:50 am by Jason Anello, Buzz Marketing
2 Comments / Filed in: Behind the Scenes, Cool Stuff
A bicycle is a conduit for exploration and a camera is a way to document these explorations. Our Purple Pedals Project took these two concepts and merged them into one. We call it a yBike. It was conceived to be an ambient experience in which a rider could explore their adventures and the bike would do the rest. The rest was to document these explorations and share them with the world.
Think of it as Bikes+Flickr+GPS+Camera=Whoa! This math didn’t come without its challenges. In a nutshell here is what we created. A camera mounted on the handlebars in a waterproof, swivel-enabled housing takes a picture every 60 seconds. Then, the system grabs GPS info, merges it with the picture, and uploads everything to a Yahoo! Map. The system is powered by a series of solar panels and a battery pack on the rear rack .
First, we needed a base to build the technology on, which came in the form of a custom-painted Electra Townie 8. Electra Bicycle Company embraced the project and helped us get 20 custom purple rides to Brooklyn, where software and electrical engineering was being developed.
Uncommon Projects, based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, created the software and hardware necessary to make the system come alive. In a project where the production cycle should’ve been twice as long, Uncommon worked wonders in finding a stable solution quickly. They were able to research, identify potential solutions, build prototypes and produce 20 final products in the time it normally takes to create a production roadmap.
With the technology well underway, we needed to build a housing that was effective but also fit the bikes aesthetics. For this, we looked to Quill Hyde, a designer and metal fabricator with a shop in Redhook, Brooklyn. Quill brought just the right look to the housing. It matched the bike and the technology in a way that kept everything in synch. For me, all the components of the yBike needed to be homogeneous ensuring a Cadillac ride, not a Frankenstein gallop.
With the bike, hardware, technology and housing coming together we looked to our family at Flickr to plot all these images and data on a map. This way you could know where the bike is and see what the bike sees at any given moment.
We then found 14 photographers/cyclists to jockey these purple pedals around the world. Among these riders are Amit Gumpta of Photojojo and Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, who curate their images as they explore.
Four of the bikes will be passed from rider to rider and the 20th bike is destined to be in your hands. Head over to our Start Wearing Purple site on October 1st and tell us why you deserve a yBike and you just might wake up with a special delivery on your doorstep.
Jason Anello
Ideologist, Yahoo! Buzz Marketing
(Average: 4 out of 5)
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2 Comments Add your own
Angela | September 29th, 2008 at 9:07 am
How long will this project be going on? Is there an endpoint for the project?
Carter Murray | December 8th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Awesome initiative!
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