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Wristband speed camera alert seeks funds

Woolf wristband

Makers of this leather wristband that alerts riders to upcoming known speed camera locations is back for its second crowdfunding attempt.

Production of the Italian-made WOOLF wristband has been stalled after the first crowd-funding campaign didn’t reach its target.

In the wake of the apparent fraud over the crowd-funded Skully head-up display helmet, company co-founder Federico Tognetti has assured supporters that no funds will be misappropriated.

“We followed the Skully story and, for sure, it’s a negative advertising for the crowdfunding system,” he told Motorbike Writer.

“I think this story could have an impact on our campaign even if it’s difficult to estimate its magnitude.Woolf wristband

“Our first campaign has ‘virtually’ collected around €14,000 from 120 backers. Since we didn’t reach our goal (€90,000), Kickstarter has not made any transfer to us and each Euro has been refunded (I checked personally with a couple of backers that are friends of mine).

“We’re a young company but with an impeccable record in running traditional business. We’ve lacked of experience on the crowdfunding and made mistakes that have penalised our campaigning.

“However WOOLF has aroused great interest including important industrial partners. We’ve been also contacted by external investors and this is the reason why we could relaunch our campaign with a lower goal.

“We’re back on Kickstarter in order to spread the voice more than for raising money. We’re very confident to being able to create and deliver WOOLF.”

Click here for their new crowd-funding campaign. If it reaches its target and goes ahead early in 2017, it will cost €139 (about $A200), although there are discount offers for early crowd fund supporters.

It’s pretty expensive, but if it saves you speeding fines, it will quickly fund itself.

There are dozens of apps available for car drivers that use GPS to detect speed zones and send an audible alert. Riders can also use them if they have a Bluetooth helmet intercom.

However, the WOOLF works without the need for an intercom, sending an alert to the rider via a vibration in the wristband. The vibration intervals increase the closer you get to the speed zone, becoming continuous with 50km/h of the speed camera.Woolf wristband

WOOLF co-founder Federico Tognetti says their app is based on SCDB.info, “the leading service in global mapping covering also Australia” which shows where speed cameras are usually located.

Its data base has more than 100,000 fixed and mobile and red light cameras in more than 66 countries and is updated daily.

The WOOLF wristband is not a radar scanner or detector, which is illegal in Australia and some other countries. So it’s perfectly legal.

Some of these radar alerts can be annoying, activating quite frequently because of known radar locations, even though they are not always being patrolled.

Perhaps the vibration in your wrist may be a nuisance for some.

WOOLF says the attractive water-resistant leather wristband is very thin, adjusts to all wrist sizes and should fit under “the tightest gloves”.Woolf wristband

Federico tells us they “aim to improve further the performance”.

The wristband connects via Bluetooth to both Android and iOS phones and includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Federico says recharge time is about three hours and you can get about two hours of use a day for 15 days.

Be aware that some crowdfunding campaigns do not guarantee your money will be returned if the project doesn’t go ahead. However, Indiegogo says unsuccessful fixed funding campaigns, like this one, refund all contributions and fees.