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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 di
by isaacdl 4y ago
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 of questions/comments :)
- bentcorner 4y agoI was thinking the same thing (as in this resembles a GPS ankle-bracelet). It sounds like the original research used a belt, which to me sounds like a more subtle device to wear: > The original idea for North Paw comes from research done at University of Osnabrück in Germany. In this study, rather than an anklet, the researchers used a belt. They wore the belt non-stop for six weeks, and reported successive stages of integration.
- smnrchrds 4y agoI feel like a wired belt would raise even more troublesome questions. This situation will be more likely with a belt than an anklet: https://www.dw.com/en/radiation-student-raises-fake-bomb-alert-in-brussels/a-19415441 https://www.dw.com/en/radiation-student-raises-fake-bomb-ale...
- etrautmann 4y agoI'm curious how well oriented you felt before. I currently always feel like I can point to north no matter what, so I'm wondering if I'd benefit from this or not? I suppose those abilities get worse when I'm not in a city with an aligned grid or inside a building, like hiking on a trail where you can't see the sun. Still, I'm not sure what I'd gain from this and curious if there's a next level of awareness to attain.
- foobarian 4y agoI'll venture a guess that you played a lot of video games with minimaps in your time :-)
- dvzk 4y agoTrail navigation is an overlapping skillset. You learn to recognize landmarks, topography, water flow, slopes, shadows, horizons, wind direction, and the sun/stars/moon. Maintaining an internal compass relative to a fixed location is indispensable. If you can do that you should be able to crudely reorient after moving blindfolded through switchbacks.
- hex4def6 4y agoI 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.
- sitkack 4y agoI wonder how well a headband would work. Having everything integrated into a baseball cap makes the most sense.
- throwup 4y agoI'd love to see a smaller version too! The GPS-tracking-bracelet aesthetic isn't really for me, but I'm still intrigued by the idea. The key components are a compass and motors, and since 2009 those have been dramatically miniaturized, thanks to the smartphone industry. Combine that with flex PCB and I bet you could fit everything in the form factor of a slap bracelet.
- shagie 4y agoWas it the battery pack? Looking at https://www.adafruit.com/product/5579 https://www.adafruit.com/product/5579 and https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201 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 that are in the back of a driver's seat - so that you could feel a car passing you.
- noja 4y agoArduino fw: https://sensebridge.net/projects/northpaw/northpaw-downloads/ https://sensebridge.net/projects/northpaw/northpaw-downloads...
- TrueGeek 4y agoI 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.
- blamazon 4y agoQuestion - why is either of those options better than a mirror?
- greycol 4y agoI 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.
- insane_dreamer 4y agobecause 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).
- permo-w 4y agodoes the intuitive sense go wrong when you go to a different part of the world? how does that work out?
- Baeocystin 4y agoNot OP, but I've traveled a lot, and it takes me a few days to adapt to the new surroundings. I can't consciously point to what it is that my brain is locking on to, but I can feel 'it' click on, and then I can trust my sense of direction, like I normally do. Before 'it', I can get turned around much more easily than normal.
- permo-w 4y agois this something you’ve picked up from this kind of device, or just something you’ve learned naturally?
- Baeocystin 4y agoAs best I can tell, it's just something that runs in the family. My mother (and her siblings) all felt the same way as well, as do many of my matrilineal cousins.
- stjohnswarts 4y agoYou never said "you wouldn't want to know why..." ?
- MisterTea 4y ago> and I got tired of questions/comments :) I'd be very attempted to gruffly retort "murder and racketeering charges" and see how fast they stop being curious.
- insane_dreamer 4y agodid you achieve a "superhuman ability to navigate [your] surroundings"? :)
- ASalazarMX 4y ago> Because of the plasticity of the brain, it has been shown that most wearers gain a new sense of absolute direction, giving them a superhuman ability to navigate their surroundings. So you would say that this quote isn't exaggeration?
- isaacdl 4y agoI wouldn't call it superhuman, but it definitely improves it a lot. I think it's helped in general with my sense of direction, but it's a lot less noticeable in an unfamiliar place (if I'm not wearing it). If I start in a familiar place, then go into somewhere unfamiliar, like a new building, my ability to keep track of cardinal directions is significantly better, which helps keep me oriented to e.g. find my way out of the building.
- Wistar 4y agoI was not good at sensing direction until I learned to fly. After I had been flying a year or two, my intuitive sense of direction on the ground became fairly keen, even when I moved to another state or even to Europe. There are certain places that trip up my sense of direction, especially Spokane, WA. In that city, south feels west to me, and strongly so. Weird.
- bigiain 4y agoI have a really good sense of direction. In the southern hemisphere. When I travel in the US your "sun in the south at midday" _really_ messes things up. And when I'm in London and there's no detectable angle to the sun through the clouds, and all medium distance travel happens on the underground, I'm even more completely lost. I have friends in Maida Vale, Edgeware Rd and Marylebone , and I _know_ they're all within walking distance, but there's no way I could dead reckon my way from one to the other. All I know is how to get from there right tube station exit to their houses or nearest pub/cafe...
- hammock 4y agoI have what you might describe as a "spidey sense" about whether a photo depicting a North American coastal scene is on the Atlantic, the Pacific, or something else like Lake Erie. You might have this feeling also. I suspect it comes from an innate, unconscious comprehension of the highlights and the shadows (since the sun will typically be in the south). And I don't mean the obvious shadows but even the subtle ones. With practice and perhaps assistance, e.g. North Paw, one could learn to harness the association between light and direction anywhere, not just near huge bodies of water of known direction.