Ethan Frier and Jonathan Ota, two industrial design students at Carnegie Mellon University, noticed a problem with night time bicycle safety. Specifically, how do you ensure side visibility when your lights are angled forward and back? Their solution is both unique and beautiful.

Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.

They placed a series of RGB LED lights inside the wheel rims. The lights are powered simply by pedaling. They are also programmed to change color from red to white as the bike speeds up and slows down, which provides a stunning and noticeable visual effect.

According to their project blog they are currently figuring out how to commercialize their creation. Keep your eyes peeled on the streets and in local bike shops.

Hat tip to Silas Grant, whose tweet first brought the video to my attention.

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Tagged: bicycling, bike safety, video

Matt Rumsey moved to D.C in 2005 to pursue a degree in History at American University. Originally from Connecticut, he has had no intention of leaving D.C. since he moved to Columbia Heights in the summer of 2008. He now lives in Ward 5. He currently works at The Sunlight Foundation. Views here are his own.