Carnegie Mellon University industrial design students Jonathan Ota and Ethan Frier developed the Aura system that brings attention to bicyclists by lighting up their bike. The students incorporated six groups of three tri-colored LEDs attached to the rims of a bike. The lights are powered by a generator built into the front hub.

“The rims start out appearing as two red circles when the bicycle is moving slowly, but transition through to white as it gathers speed,” explains Gizmag. “A handlebar-mounted power switch allows riders to turn the system off when riding in the daytime.

“We wanted to make a cool product that people will want to use,” explained Ota in an interview with Gizmag. “And in the process of using it, will make them safer.”

Watch the video above to see Aura in action.

We wrote about similar projects in the past, including a laser-projected bike lane and a glow-in-the-dark bike.

What do you think of this device? Would you use it during your night rides?