Wearable compass

From NYC Resistor Wiki

Wearable Compass[edit]

The goal here is to solve the problem I have when I come out of the subway and don't know which direction is North.

Hardware

Hoeken gave me a digital compass [1] and I've got a lily pad [2] I also have Joe's GPS module [3]


Software I'm going to be grabbing stuff off the arduino playground site... I'll need help

Links

Phil is working on one of these over at the hackerbot labs [4] and more info here plus some great links. [5] There's a great wired article Phil pointed me to. [6]


Compass Belt[edit]

I'm working on a similar project for my directionally disabled friend. The pieces we are looking at are:

  • Compass Module - HMC6352 [7]
  • Lily pad [8]
  • Lily pad vibe board [9]
  • Lily pad power supply [10]

My expectation is that we'll put this into a belt, with the electronics mostly on the side (for the prototype), and the vibe board on the back. The system should pump out a short vibration whenever the compass passes north, but fade if you keep your body oriented that direction.

I want to keep the system as simple as possible, as my hope is that by putting this into a belt instead of something like a watch where a person consciously 'aims' it, eventually the knowledge of where north is will start to become subconscious for the wearer (at least in localities where the belt has been worn)

- Devon Jones