DIYer uses mountain bike to pedal around Google Earth

Not quite sure what's up with the recent influx of bicycle-related DIY jobs, but nevertheless, we've another one on our hands here with Mike's Flying Bike. Essentially, Mike utilized a SunSPOT as well as a plethora of other sensors in order to modify his mountain bike for use as a Google Earth controller. In ET-like fashion, he's now able to pedal around various locations in the world, simultaneously burning through excess calories, opening his mind to new locales and monumentally inflating his ego. If you've got seven minutes to spare, you can check this thing out in action just beyond the break.

[Via Google Earth Blog, thanks Roger]

[Richard Lai @ May 19th 2008 10:43PM]

Who needs the Wii now?

[MeatyPi @ May 19th 2008 11:41PM]

Surely, all the wiists who need their fix do.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ May 19th 2008 11:43PM]

What happens if he stops pedaling? Does he hover in space? Or does he crash?

[bondsbw @ May 20th 2008 7:45AM]

Wow, so you're saying that the Wii has a game that lets you fly around the world using an exercise bike? I must be out of the loop!

Or not... why did you even bring up the Wii? It has nothing to do with this.

[Richard Lai @ May 20th 2008 7:53AM]

@bondsbw: wow, you out of touch or what?

[Rafer @ May 19th 2008 10:44PM]

We are now gonna head over to my unmarked van which has candy for the children.

[OneLove @ May 20th 2008 10:31AM]

dude is creepy. reminds me of bob ross.

[Alex @ May 20th 2008 3:03PM]

It's also my home!

[rutsy5 @ May 19th 2008 10:57PM]

does it factor in resistance based on slope?

[Drew Scott @ May 20th 2008 12:39AM]

Well ... it's a flight simulator, so the resistance is pretty much constant.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ May 20th 2008 8:30AM]

No, I think diving is a lot easier than climbing, thanks to gravity.

[Stiv @ May 19th 2008 10:58PM]

Very cool!

[Hraefn @ May 19th 2008 11:08PM]

So... he'll be able to tell people he rode his bike over the Himalayas?

[Drew Scott @ May 20th 2008 12:39AM]

that's the idea.

[sfditty @ May 19th 2008 11:19PM]

I didn't have the sound on when I watched the video- does he explain why the bike has girlie handlebars?

[vdogg89 @ May 19th 2008 11:22PM]

oh you missed his soothing voice

[andy @ May 19th 2008 11:25PM]

ET find homeee

[su27chaos @ May 19th 2008 11:27PM]

heh whats this website link goes to? kind of paranoid about keyloggers in wow forums.

[Henry @ May 19th 2008 11:28PM]

Haha, he reminds me of Mack from FutureWeapons.

[David Fiore @ May 19th 2008 11:56PM]

How has everyone missed that he is running OSX on his Dell.

I smell hackintosh.

dave

[Kinger @ May 20th 2008 12:03AM]

I believe it's just a dell monitor.

probably a 2001FP by looks of it..
I only say that cause i own the same one and I recognize the angle of the bevel

[Tyson @ May 20th 2008 1:31AM]

I was saying the same thing. I watched the video( well only the first minute or so) and it looks like Mac OS to me, from the little bar on the bottom and the bar on the top.

[matt @ May 20th 2008 1:41AM]

reject thats the monitor most likely connected to a mac tower. I smell idiot.

[vdogg89 @ May 20th 2008 7:47AM]

i dont get whats so odd about having a dell monitor with an a mac pro? You all act as if its some new thing

[d @ May 20th 2008 9:00AM]

It's a Dell monitor, and it could be hooked up to anything (not just a mini tower). Apple advertises a certain compact desktop that can be used with any monitor (Mac Mini, the BYODKM computer)

B - Bring
Y - Your
O - Own
D - Display
K - Keyboard
M - Mouse

[John @ May 20th 2008 12:19PM]

Dude needs to clean up his dock!

[rhogan @ May 19th 2008 11:50PM]

It'd be cooler if you could somehow hook it up to the Google Streetview images. Then you could peddle around the streets of various cities during your workout, sort of like those exercise bikes you see at a lot of gyms now, except with actual images.

[John @ May 20th 2008 6:21AM]

GTA anyone?

[rhogan @ May 20th 2008 9:22AM]

How does that have anything to do with GTA?

[David Fiore @ May 20th 2008 9:42AM]

aww you might be right, it resembles my 30 and the newer 24's at work.

Damn thought my first comment would be a dooozy. (multi years as a reader thou)

[Jono B @ May 20th 2008 12:38AM]

Great, now those damn bikes, not content with getting in the way and slowing people up on the road, will also be taking up airspace. ;-)

[Mojo @ May 20th 2008 1:10AM]

I didn't realize Google Earth was so sweet. The part through the mountains looks pretty great.

[Quikboy @ May 20th 2008 4:06AM]

If you think Google Earth is sweet, you should really check out Virtual Earth. It's Microsoft's own Earth, but the textures are also just as great (if not better), and the aerial views are actually pretty high-res. And there's many 3D cities in full color. I'm not joking.

If you're interested, you can just to http://maps.live.com/ and view in 3D mode (you have to install a little plug-in), and it works right in the browser.

[nikster @ May 20th 2008 7:00AM]

@quikboy - I hope Microborg pays you top $ for this...

[Quikboy @ May 21st 2008 12:27AM]

@nikster : Sheesh, it was just a suggestion. Is it wrong these days to point something else that's better out there?

I guess anyone that recommends a Mac must be paid by Apple as well, right?

[Bob @ May 20th 2008 2:32AM]

I think it has the same effect as if I just had a TV monitor in front of me displaying different places of the world while I was biking.

[Mike @ May 20th 2008 2:36AM]

Did Bob Ross build a flying bike?

[Garth @ May 20th 2008 2:41AM]

I did a similar thing allowing you to make your Warcraft character move by running in place. It also has Wiimote gesture support for attacks.

World of Warcraft + 16 foot screen + gesture input:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ITeaCq1MTI

[Unclenate @ Jun 4th 2008 5:21PM]

Neat trick, but this is old news. A buddy of mine whipped this together in a weekend about 2 or 3 years ago for a conference... http://virtualbicycle.com/

His doesn't "Fly", but it does have some experience elements like increased peadal pressure on "slopes', etc...

[Troels C @ May 20th 2008 3:03AM]

I'm, gonna keep my SpaceNavigator...

[Mark @ May 20th 2008 4:14AM]

that's really sweet. does anyone remember an arcade game, about 10 years back, where you had to pedal a flying bike through balloons? it was beautiful, the sensation of soaring, peaceful, but I always ran out of coins. i thought: one day, i will have my own version of this in my home. kind of therapeutic. and now, i kind of can.

BTW the 'girlie handlebars' are a very intuitive way of dealing with familiar flight controls - just wouldn't work the same on drop bars or straight mountain bike bars, don't ya think?

[Ken @ May 20th 2008 4:36AM]

Neat, only not. There is already a built in flight simulator in google earth which offers the identical level of control.


When I read the headline I figured he'd show it off at near ground level, in a city with 3d buildings turned on and textured. That would make for a much more impressive, and somewhat unique, way to browse Earth.

[seva @ May 20th 2008 9:20AM]

"So son where are you gonna take a bike ride today?" "Well probably over Mt. Everest and might go visit the great lakes maybe even Area 51 and not get shot while im there."

Im guessing we don't need airplanes anymore.

[Bastien @ May 20th 2008 10:22AM]

"monumentally inflating his ego"

Well I've watched the video three times now as I'm reporting on it and I still don't get it. What's up Engadget? Is being ambitious and proud of one's unpaid work a proof of being arrogant? He doesn't say his bike is a revolution, just tells us it has generated lots of ideas in his mind... and so what? At the time when users and amateurs and encouraged to generate content and create new devices themselves, I find this comment pretty inept. I might be wrong though, and I might not have understood something, so feel free to let me know why you feel he's being arrogant! ^^

[huh @ May 20th 2008 11:04AM]

you must be new here. this is engadget. when the editors can't find something clever to say (97% of the time), they make up some dull joke. sometimes they even pack 5 or 6 dull jokes into a post.

[Jon Olsen @ May 20th 2008 3:26PM]

Is that a Dell machine running OS X?

[DP @ May 21st 2008 2:31PM]

I pedaled around the town of Bulworth (in the game 'BULLY') with a DIY bike here: http://imakeprojects.com/Projects/vr-bike/

It was pretty fun to make, and I really like the idea of using Google Earth for something similar!