Skully AR-1 – The augmented reality motorcycle helmet

March 02, 2020

The Skully AR-1 augmented reality motorcycle helmet will never see the light of day. The company which had succeeded in its crowdfunding campaign has just gone bankrupt.

The Skully AR-1 had dreamed of many bikers. This motorcycle helmet was supposed to allow bikers to see what was going on behind them. They even paid up to $ 1,500 to be the first to wear it. Unfortunately, the dream gave way to anger when the company announced that augmented reality motorcycle helmets would never be delivered.

augmented reality motorcycle helmet Skully AR-1

It was the TechCrunch news site that announced the bankruptcy of Skully. Its CEO and founder Marcus Weller will soon file an article 7 dossier; a US law allowing companies to file for bankruptcy. It is therefore very unlikely that the 3000 people who made a pre-order never receive their helmet or a refund of the sums paid in pre-order.

A few months ago, a slight hope was still possible. The Skully team was struggling to find funding to pay its manufacturer Flextronics to ship its first product. A takeover agreement with the Chinese company LeSports was also envisaged.

As a reminder, Skully had raised $ 2.4 million on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo; one of the biggest successes for a wearable project. Basically, the product was to be shipped between the end of 2014 and the month of November 2015. A few weeks ago, the company even announced that it could ship the motorcycle helmet for the month of September 2016.

This new example shows us that buying a product on crowdfunding site involves a small dose of risk. While the majority of projects are born after their fundraising campaign, some never see the light of day.