Update #17: Finished design in CAD

Hey everyone, hope all is well!

Following up from our last update regarding the fit issue, we wanted to circle back and update you on what we have done since then to fix the problem.

First, as we mentioned in our last update, several beta testers reported to us that the beta helmet felt like it was sitting high, and tended to feel “shallow.” So we’ve made the liner deeper (while ensuring there is sufficient protective foam), so the helmet sinks in a little more and “sits” better on your head.


The difference is subtle but allows the helmet to "sit" on your head much better

Second, we also observed that the beta helmet tended to be too wide for most people, leading to gaps between the sides of the head and the helmet. So we’ve also made the liner slightly narrower. This will also help make the helmet sit on your head better.

Third, we’ve also revamped the retention webbing mechanism. The new retention system wraps around the circumference of your head so that when you tighten the adjustment dial it presses evenly around your head for a tight and secure fit.

We’ve made new prototypes of the helmet with these 3 improvements, tried it out extensively, and verified that it improves the fit significantly. We’re finishing up some minor refinements and expect to begin tooling on this shortly. We’ll be able to give a concrete update to you guys on that in our next update!

Aesthetics

Given that we had to re-tool to fix the fit issue anyway, we also took the opportunity to make refinements to the aesthetic design. Here is how it looks:


Old beta helmet design 

Final helmet design in CAD

Final helmet design - Computer Render (Logo photoshopped in which is why it looks funky)

Its subtle, but you’ll (hopefully) be able to see that the new final helmet looks a lot sleeker compared to the beta unit which looks a lot “rounder”.

These aesthetic changes are all much more art than science, and to explain them in more detail I thought this would be a great time to introduce a new addition to team Lumos: Bilal Raja, a very talented designer who joined us from London. Everyone, meet Bilal!  

We’re really excited about this, and hope you guys are too!

Next update: Tooling starts soon and at that point the design will be "locked in" and we won't be able to make anything other than minor changes to the design at that point. It also quite literally takes 3 months! As such we won't be able to provide terribly substantive updates on the product during that time (there won't be much to provide an update on), so we were thinking of taking the opportunity to tell you guys a little bit more about the company itself. Is there anything about us and/or the project that you would like us to talk more about in our next update? Let us know in the comments below!

Eu-wen and Jeff

P.S. We’re revamping our marketing and social media efforts and plan on posting tiny pieces of content there more frequently now. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to be clued in to that!