Matthew Miller/ZDNET
A couple of years ago, I tested a stunning carbon fiber e-bike from Urtopia that had smart-riding features embedded in its dot-matrix display controller. At the time, the functionality was fairly basic and focused on enhancing the riding experience. However, Urtopia has done a lot more work since then. I met with the company’s CEO at CES to talk about its upcoming e-bikes, a smart ring, and the integration of ChatGPT into the Urtopia platform.
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Urtopia CEO Owen Zhang described the advanced technology features contained inside the e-bike’s Smartbar as the “Jarvis” of the biking world. Jarvis refers to the AI found in Marvel’s Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits. The Urtopia Smartbar provides ChatGPT through LTE and Bluetooth, which is connected to your smartphone with direct interactions between the rider and the e-bike. These connections take place via voice commands. A smartphone is not required to take advantage of the ChatGPT integration.
What’s more, Urtopia’s latest bikes can function as your mobile coach, intelligent companion, and voice-activated assistant. Activate the voice commands, tell the bike where you would like to ride, and provide a distance. ChatGPT and the bike’s connectivity will then find the best bike route that meets your needs. You will then be guided along that route, both visually on the display and via spoken commands.
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An upcoming Urtopia smart ring will help facilitate a more robust coaching experience. The ring collects your key health data, including sleep stages, and syncs that with your biking data to provide a riding experience that is optimized for your current fitness condition. If the data from the smart ring indicates you slept well and have a high level of readiness, then the e-bike will provide less assistance from the electric motor. If you’ve slept poorly and have been exceeding your typical fitness level, then the bike might provide a higher level of assistance to balance out your load and help you achieve your goals.
Matthew Miller/ZDNET
The bike will also suggest a distance and bike route based on your level of recovery. Along with a suggested workout, ChatGPT will provide guidance on how to best complete that ride. This coaching includes target heart rate, how to pedal best for your level of fitness, and other personalized coaching tips.
The smart ring will also serve as a security key to your bike, so as you approach the bike, it will unlock and prepare for riding. When you leave your bike behind, the ring will shut down the bike, and can even activate the security features.
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Data collected from the bike and ring sync to the Urtopia smartphone application, where you can view all your health data alongside your completed bike rides, and much more. A year of eSIM service is available for $39 after your first free year, which is included with a bike purchase.
The Urtopia Carbon 1 Pro can be pre-ordered now for $2,499 ($500 pre-order discount) and is scheduled to start shipping in March. The Urtopia Fusion GT and Urtopia Smart Ring are planned for availability in July 2024.