Emily Brooke
Product Design with Professional Experience BSc (Hons)
I have a week left on my course here (Product Design with Professional Experience) which I have to say I have genuinely loved! The course has a strong professional leaning, which I particularly enjoy, and feel has equipped me extremely well to enter the 'real world'. It is also the business side of design I am keen to be involved in, and why this course is also so exciting to me!
For Emily's final year project she invented a device that projects a bright green laser image of a bike onto the road ahead – alerting motorists and to their presence. Her invention is being hailed as a potential life saver and has won her a place at a prestigious USA college on an Entrepreneurship Programme.
BLAZE is a small, battery-powered device that attaches to the handlebars of bicycles, motorcycles or scooters, and projects a laser image ahead onto the road. A bright green bicycle symbol travels ahead of the cyclist, alerting others to its presence. It has the option to be flashing, maximising perception, and is visible even in daylight.
I wanted to tackle the issue of safety of cyclists on city streets by increasing the visibility, footprint, and ultimately the awareness of the bicycle. Eighty per cent of cycle accidents occur when bicycles travel straight ahead and a vehicle manoeuvres into them. The most common contributory factor is 'failed to look properly' on the part of a vehicle driver. The evidence shows the bike simply is not seen on city streets. Even when lit up like a Christmas tree a bicycle in a bus's blind-spot is still invisible. With BLAZE, you see the bike before the cyclist and I believe this could really make a difference in the key scenarios threatening cyclists' lives on the roads.
I'm extremely grateful to BeePurple, who I think offer a fantastic service. I initially approached them for advice on protecting my concept and taking out a patent, which led on to applying for the Award, which led to this opportunity.
