LifeBEAM, a Tel-Aviv-based tech firm, has created the first heart rate-monitoring SMART bicycle helmet using company’s existing aerospace technology.

LifeBEAM had created a miniaturized sensing platform by the name of Quantum, for use in the helmets of fighter pilots. Developed in cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, it’s able to monitor a pilot’s heart rate, blood flow, and oxygen saturation while in flight. Should it detect a potentially life-threatening condition such as hypoxia, both the pilot and the ground crew are alerted.

Utilizing some of the same principles as Quantum, the SMART helmet utilizes a sweat-resistant optical sensor mounted on the inside front of the helmet, that gently touches the user’s forehead.

That sensor is able to measure the wearer’s pulse, and transmits the raw data to a processing unit in the back of the helmet.

That unit contains a 3-axis accelerometer, which it uses to distinguish between the heart rate data and artifacts caused by movement. The cleaned-up and processed data is subsequently transmitted by Bluetooth 4.0 or ANT+ to the cyclist’s smartphone, fitness watch or cycling computer, where it’s displayed in real time on the device’s screen.

More information is available in the pitch video below.