h a l f b a k e r yNumber one on the no-fly list
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The IR jacket has two parts - an IR-based proximity sensor mounted on a pendant that hangs around your neck, providing a wide-angle depth image of your surroundings; and a grid of piezo-electric vibrator 'pixels' worn close to the skin.
Each 'pixel' then vibrates at a frequency inversely proportional
to the proximity of an object to it (i.e. closest objects would cause the highest-frequency oscillation).
This effectively uses your whole torso surface as a 'retina'; over time, adaptation would allow a blind person to navigate through the world as well as a seeing person.
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//inversely proportional// should read 'proportional'. |
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Nice idea. The touch resolution of the torso is rather low, but using the whole torso (as you say) would help. |
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Have you tried the experiment where you get someone to touch you in two places close together, and move the sites apart until you can feel the two seperate contacts? I was surprised at the difference between fingertips (mm) and back (cm). |
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Wouldn't a pendant jiggle around, and therefore provide confusing directional cues? |
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