Sena announce world’s first noise-cancelling crash helmet

Sena are best known for their in-helmet comms – bluetooth communicators, intercoms and the like. But they’ve decided to put all that audio-nouse to good use by, for the first time, integrating it into their own crash helmet. And it looks very interesting – not just because it’s a sweet-looking carbon fibre helmet – but because it’s the world’s first noice-cancelling crash helmet too!

As you can see from the diagram below, there’s a whole load of audio electronics and cabling built into the fabric of each helmet. The noise-cancelling tech uses an array of four connected microphones to take in external noise. If it works in a similar way to traditional noise-cancelling tech, it’ll then process the opposite phase then feed that into your ears to cancel out noise. It’s tech that’s been around for ages now, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it integrated into a helmet in this way.

I say integrated, but it’s unclear that the tech – called Intelligent Noise Control or INC for short – will actually be shipped in the helmet or made available as an extra that attaches to the helmet, in the same way their Bluetooth module is an optional extra (which is bizarre coming from a manufacturer known for their bluetooth kit!).

That aside, the tech sounds pretty impressive. It cuts out wind noise while allowing things like emergency sirens, other traffic and engine noise to get through, i.e. just the noises you want. There’s also an ‘ambient mode’ – press a button on the side of the helmet, and it allows you to hear what’s been said to you without taking your helmet off. Nice.

Sena haven’t announced a release date yet – when they do, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, if you’re looking for the quietest helmets on the market, check out our quietest helmets section.