Cardo Just Turned Motorcycle Intercoms Into Public Voice Chats

Cardo basically put an open multiplayer lobby inside your helmet.

By: Enrico Punsalang

Aug 19, at 7:36am ET

Add RideApart as a preferred source in Google

Comment

Motorcycle intercoms have spent years getting better at letting you talk to people you already know. Pair your buddies, build a group, yell about missed turns, then spend the next four hours listening to somebody breathe into their microphone. Cardo's latest update takes that basic formula somewhere much stranger. With its new Mesh Boost software, Packtalk users can now open up communication to nearby riders they haven't paired with beforehand.

The feature is called Public Mesh, and the concept is basically proximity voice chat for motorcycles. Riders can activate it through the Cardo Connect app, allowing them to communicate with other nearby DMC users who are also using Public Mesh. You don't need to swap pairing codes or build a private group first. If everyone involved has the feature enabled and happens to be within range, the conversation can happen spontaneously.

Photo by: Cardo Systems

That's potentially a much bigger deal than the headline-grabbing group-size increase that comes with Mesh Boost. Cardo has also expanded its Dynamic Mesh Communication network from 15 users to as many as 31 riders and passengers. That's a very large group ride, or a moderately sized rolling committee meeting, depending on how much you enjoy listening to 30 other people discuss where everyone should stop for lunch.

Public Mesh, though, changes how an intercom could actually work out on the road. You could potentially talk to another rider about a hazard ahead, ask someone at a stoplight about their bike, or communicate with riders you've just met without pulling over and spending five minutes poking buttons on the side of your helmet. Of course, the other rider needs Public Mesh turned on too, so random strangers aren't automatically invading your helmet every time you pass a motorcycle.

Cardo is also adding Remote Grouping, which tackles another familiar annoyance. Instead of everyone physically gathering in one spot before forming a mesh group, organizers can generate a link through the Cardo Connect app and share it beforehand. Once riders who joined through that link get within range of one another, their devices automatically connect to the Dynamic Mesh network.

What do you think?

View

Comments

Mesh Boost is a free over-the-air update for second-generation DMC devices including the Packtalk Pro, Edge, and Neo. Older Packtalk generations can still connect with Mesh Boost users, but they won't gain the new features themselves. Harley-Davidson and Schuberth SC-Edge units aren't included in the initial rollout, with their versions expected later this year.

So yes, the 31-person mesh network is impressive. Remote Grouping should make organized rides less annoying too. But Public Mesh is the part that changes the personality of the product. Cardo didn't just make the motorcycle group chat bigger. It gave riders the option to open the lobby.