If you often use your phone to navigate city streets while on your bike, you might find Haiku extremely useful. The device works with your phone to deliver turn-by-turn directions right on your handlebars, enabling you to leave your phone in your pocket and focus on the road.
A virtual bike assistant of sorts, Haiku is designed exclusively with urban cyclists in mind — you have very different needs when riding around a city versus when you are out for a road ride. It is not about performance — it’s about knowing exactly where to go, what time it is, and if anyone is trying to call you.
Haiku offers simple access to this information with a dedicated and unique interface focused on safety and simplicity. Set a destination on your phone, connect to Haiku, and you now have access to GPS navigation, call and message notifications, as well as your basic ride stats.
Probably the most unique feature of this simple bike computer is that it uses gesture control to navigate the menu. A touchless sensor enables you to just wave your hand or thumb over the device to change screens. This sensor works whether or not you are wearing gloves.
I can see Haiku being extremely useful for bike commuting or running errands with your bike. For example, when I ride into the city for a meeting or to go to an event, I sure don’t want to create a course online and have to download it to my Garmin bike computer in order to get turn-by-turn directions. It would be way easier to just plug the address into Google maps on my phone, connect to Haiku, and off I go.
You can pre-order the Haiku virtual bike assistant for €85 from the company website. Expected delivery is in March.