Bluetooth-Enabled BEARTek Gloves on Kickstarter

Dennis Chung
by Dennis Chung

Maryland-based Blue Infusion Technologies is developing a new motorcycle riding glove that with Bluetooth technology enabling wireless control of smartphones.The BEARTek (which stands for Bluetooth Enabled Audio Regulation Technology) glove features controls built into the fingers to allow operation of simple phone functions such as answering calls or operating a phone’s music player. Controls are activated by pressing a thumb against different points on the fingers.

The company was founded in 2010 by Willie Blount, a technician and rider who built the first prototype with a Bluetooth kit and an old pair of riding gloves.

“As a motorcyclist, it has always been difficult to operate my cell phone or music device without having to move my hands from the handle bars of my bike,” says Blount, inventor, founder and chief executive officer of Blue Infusion Technologies. “BEARTek Gloves will now provide motorcyclists the convenience and safety of operating any smartphone or Bluetooth music device with simple finger touches on the glove.”

The motorcycle glove is a gauntlet design providing wrist protection. The fingers are pre-curved and the knuckles are protected by carbon fiber shielding. The finger controls are built into the glove, while a removable Bluetooth control module that slips into a waterproof pocket on the back of the wrist.

The module can be installed in either glove, to suit the rider’s preference, and owners can purchase multiple gloves without having to buy an extra module. Blue Infusion Technologies also designs a winter glove for skiing and snowboarding using the same swappable module.

Blue Infusion Technologies opened a Kickstarter page to raise funds to develop its motorcycle BEARTek glove, with the goal of raising $50,000 by Dec. 14. Those pledging $170 to support the project will receive a pair of the motorcycle gloves.

[Source: Blue Infusion Technologies]

Dennis Chung
Dennis Chung

Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.

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