You use your remote key fob to find your car in a crowded parking garage, so why not use the same concept to find your bike? The Acusto Optical Lock concept from Liu Yu would make it simple to locate your bike, even when it’s surrounded by other bikes. You’d simply press a button and a light on your bike would begin to glow, guiding you back to it.
In most parts of the U.S., finding your parked bike isn’t much of a concern since there are only a handful of people commuting on two wheels. But with gas prices climbing steadily, picking your bike out of a line-up might soon become more of a challenge.
Judging from the design renders, it looks like you have to be relatively close to your bike and in a more or less direct line with it in order for the gadget to work since it operates on an infrared signal. Anyone who has ever tried to change the channel from the next room knows that IR has its limits.
But overall, we love that the button to set off the blinking light is on a key that unlocks the bike’s lock. And when these remotes start working just like the keyless entry fobs for cars, they will no doubt become a huge hit with biking enthusiasts everywhere.