DAAL plans motorcycle helmet wind noise cancellation system

Active noise cancellation technology has been around for years, and Sena is even working on the technology for its own motorcycle helmets. Now, two Norwegians are working on bringing the technology to a much broader range of helmets.

Together, Dag Loe and Sigmund Birkeland are behind DAAL Noise Control Systems, a startup aimed at developing active noise cancellation systems that can be installed in a range of helmets built by other manufacturers. The idea is that, just as you can bolt on an aftermarket comms system now, you’ll be able to install a wind noise cancellation device.

The DAAL tech would work the same as other noise cancellation systems: built-in microphones pick up noise, and then the system produces a noise that’s just as loud, but with inverted phase. If you remember your high school physics, or you watch enough nerdy Discovery Channel shows, you’ll know that this effectively cancels the noise due to the Power of Science! Powerful stuff indeed.

Now, this is all very cool stuff, but it hasn’t made it very far into the world of motorcycle helmets, only Sena sells such a system right now, although other manufacturers are working on it. But, so far, it’s basically been individual helmet makers working on it on their own, with very little in the way of cross-brand availability. That means less availability, possibly more expense, and also possibly longer to come to market. If DAAL’s plan works out, we’d mostly likely see the tech adopted much more broadly, and much more quickly.

For starters, DAAL hopes to build noise cancellation for specific third-party helmets, adapted to just those helmets. But, if that all works out, the founders want DAAL to build a system that’s available for all helmets.