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North Paw

sensebridge.net

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Re: North Paw

#91

Post by blamazon »

TrueGeek wrote: post #64
shagie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it the battery pack? Looking at https://www.adafruit.com/product/5579 and https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201 it should be fairly possible to get to a more reasonable size. As an alternative to the leg, having the vibration as something in the collar might be an alternative. One of the "hmm... things to make" is a lidar detector for things behind a car that then is mapped to an array of the vibration motors tha…

I ride a bike with a Garmin radar detector that tells me when a car is behind me. Adding a vibration motor to it would be neat.

Question - why is either of those options better than a mirror?

Re: North Paw

#92

Post by authpor »

wouldn't it be better to learn about where you are and how to find the north by looking at the sun?

then again, this thing could greatly teach how to do this, as long as you stopped wearing it eventually

Re: North Paw

#93

Post by greycol »

blamazon wrote: post #91
TrueGeek wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ride a bike with a Garmin radar detector that tells me when a car is behind me. Adding a vibration motor to it would be neat.

Question - why is either of those options better than a mirror?

I would be wary about replacing a mirror and turning your head with such a system so its main advantage that you don't need to take your eyes off the oncoming road is moot.

As a supplemental system the advantages would include redundancy, lack of a blind spot, and better situational awareness even when you're not planning to change lanes.

Re: North Paw

#94

Post by aryamaan »

maliker wrote: post #4

Every time I read about folks surgically implanting stuff like this [1] I think... surely just wearing it would be better? [1] https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/north-sense-cybernetic-i...

Where are they being sold? Could not find them at the company's website.

Re: North Paw

#95

Post by insane_dreamer »

isaacdl wrote: post #5

I own one of these - bought it pre-made years ago rather than assembling the kit myself. It's a ton of fun, and really does give me a more-intuitive sense of direction. After wearing it for a while around places I go to regularly, I keep that intuitive sense of direction without having to wear it. I've mostly stopped wearing it though, because it looks a lot like a GPS-based parole-monitoring device, and I got tired…

did you achieve a "superhuman ability to navigate [your] surroundings"? :)

Re: North Paw

#96

Post by insane_dreamer »

blamazon wrote: post #91
TrueGeek wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ride a bike with a Garmin radar detector that tells me when a car is behind me. Adding a vibration motor to it would be neat.

Question - why is either of those options better than a mirror?

because you don't have to turn your head to check; and sometimes you can't hear cars approaching (especially EVs or when there's wind that masks the sound). Mirrors don't provide full visibility and it's also harder to judge the distance and speed of approach (which the radar provides).

Re: North Paw

#97

Post by beambot »

staplung wrote: post #31

IIRC Oliver Sacks was interested in this kind of thing. Think there's an episode of Radiolab where he talks about how ho used to carry around a couple of extremely strong, oblong magnets in his pockets that would stay oriented north even while he moved around. He wanted to see if his brain could learn to make sense of the input and develop a new sense, akin to the magnetic navigation that retain birds have. Not sure…

Earth's magnetic field is way too small to orient magnets in someone's pocket. The level of friction is substantial! For example: Even the strongest rare earth magnets do not self-orient when sitting on a table. There's a reason compasses require very-low friction bearings (either needle point or water).

Re: North Paw

#98

Post by shard »

sitkack wrote: post #77
hex4def6 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked with the guy that designed this gadget (Hi Eric!), back in ~2009 or so. It would be really cool to see another version with smaller electronics, flex PCB, etc. Other features, like connection to a smart phone for waypoint navigation would be neat.

I wonder how well a headband would work. Having everything integrated into a baseball cap makes the most sense.

Headband would require constant wearing of a hat. I would prefer a belt version.

Re: North Paw

#100

Post by rkagerer »

Do these ever get confused by the things that ordinarily screw up compasses? (eg. iron deposits, power lines, metal walls, etc)

Firefighters navigating in smoke-filled buildings could benefit from something that helps them maintain an absolute sense of direction, but guessing that might be too hostile an environment.

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