HindSight Stories #2
This week's #hindsightstories comes from our founder and CEO Alexander Macdonald. If you'd like to share your story with us please send us an email to callum.and.alex@hindsight.store
Every weekday for 18 years I would cycle the same road back to my grandparents house in Edinburgh. That’s nearly five thousand distinct and individual journeys before meeting the same final junction to pull off the main road and onto the street I called home.
Every day I made that journey, I made the same turn off the same road to reach my destination, and every day I would indicate I was about to turn by extending my hand, I'd start to slow down as I approached the corner, and I'd pray. Pray that the car behind has seen my indication and wasn't about to steamroll me into the main road in front of my grandparents’ house.
It was during these thousands of journeys that an idea began to percolate in my head. Why don't I ever really know how safe I am when I make this turn? Looking back over my shoulder told me whether or not there was a car there, following me at speed as I slowed to turn off the main road, but apart from there being a vehicle there, the corner of my eye wasn't able to tell me a huge amount about what was following me. If I were to be driving, I'd simply check my side or rear view mirrors and use that information to determine whether the vehicle behind me had seen my indication and was aware that I was turning off the main road. As a cyclist, I just didn't have that degree of certainty in any decision I ever made.
It wasn't until I developed the first-ever HindSight glasses prototype that I was able to make that turn with certainty. For the first time ever before making the turn, I turned my head 5 degrees, glanced to the side into the mirror in my glasses, and knew with certainty that the driver behind me had seen my signal. They were matching my speed. They weren't playing with the radio, texting, or daydreaming with the chance of not recognising my speed reduction approaching the corner and rear-ending me.
That peace of mind was something that I found revolutionary as a cyclist - I never had access to that high fidelity information in that way before, and that's what made me realise that HindSight technology was going to be a game-changer.
Every weekday for 18 years I would cycle the same road back to my grandparents house in Edinburgh. That’s nearly five thousand distinct and individual journeys before meeting the same final junction to pull off the main road and onto the street I called home.
Every day I made that journey, I made the same turn off the same road to reach my destination, and every day I would indicate I was about to turn by extending my hand, I'd start to slow down as I approached the corner, and I'd pray. Pray that the car behind has seen my indication and wasn't about to steamroll me into the main road in front of my grandparents’ house.
It was during these thousands of journeys that an idea began to percolate in my head. Why don't I ever really know how safe I am when I make this turn? Looking back over my shoulder told me whether or not there was a car there, following me at speed as I slowed to turn off the main road, but apart from there being a vehicle there, the corner of my eye wasn't able to tell me a huge amount about what was following me. If I were to be driving, I'd simply check my side or rear view mirrors and use that information to determine whether the vehicle behind me had seen my indication and was aware that I was turning off the main road. As a cyclist, I just didn't have that degree of certainty in any decision I ever made.
It wasn't until I developed the first-ever HindSight glasses prototype that I was able to make that turn with certainty. For the first time ever before making the turn, I turned my head 5 degrees, glanced to the side into the mirror in my glasses, and knew with certainty that the driver behind me had seen my signal. They were matching my speed. They weren't playing with the radio, texting, or daydreaming with the chance of not recognising my speed reduction approaching the corner and rear-ending me.
That peace of mind was something that I found revolutionary as a cyclist - I never had access to that high fidelity information in that way before, and that's what made me realise that HindSight technology was going to be a game-changer.