Wearables

Buzzing belt guides users by their gut

The feelSpace belt may be in production soon
feelSpace
The feelSpace belt may be in production soon
feelSpace

While navigation apps may be great for finding your way around strange places, they do require you to hold onto your smartphone and periodically check its screen – not an ideal setup if both your hands are occupied, or if you simply don't wish to look like a tourist. Smartwatches offer one way around this, but German startup feelSpace has developed a navigation belt that also allows for hands-free, haptic-based navigation. Worn over or under the clothes, it guides you by buzzing your waist via a series of built-in actuators.

The feelSpace belt springs from a research project that began in 2005 at the University of Osnabrück. That study was aimed at determining if human test subjects could develop a sense of which way was north – to that end, they were first equipped with belts that continuously indicated the direction of true north, by vibrating on that side.

In the commercial version of the belt, users can still opt to use it in a Compass mode, in which it simply lets them know which way north is. It doesn't need to be paired with a smartphone for this function to work.

Utilizing the more practical Routing mode, users start by indicating their destination on an accompanying iOS or Android app. The Bluetooth-connected belt takes it from there, telling them which way to walk (or cycle, etc) by vibrating on the front or at various points to the left or right. A special vibrational pattern lets them know when they've reached the target – this could be particularly useful for visually-impaired users.

Finally, for people who are more interested in exploring than simply going from A to B, there's the Beeline mode. This lets users know what direction their eventual destination is in, but doesn't bother with providing turn-by-turn navigational cues.

The device weighs around 450 g (1 lb), and should be good for a full day of use on one charge of its battery.

Although the consumer version of the belt was first revealed last year, feelSpace has just launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund its production. If you want one, be prepared to pledge US$899. Delivery is scheduled for December, assuming all goes as planned. Hopefully the folks at feelSpace will do better than the designers of the similar Triposo navigational belt, which didn't meet its crowdfunding goal.

More information is available in the following pitch video.

Sources: feelSpace, Indiegogo

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6 comments
Ralf Biernacki
A nausea-inducing navigational aid---is the world ready for it yet?
Vanilla Cat
Do not simply look like a tourist when you can look like a super dorky tourist instead.
BleedingEdge
Interesting concept, however not a very compelling design. Quick deployment or removal also seems a bit sketchy in cold weather clothing seasons. in addition the ability to provide strong haptic guidance through clothing layers hints at high power consumption. It does however serve as a proof-of-concept albeit a crude one. A commercially viable unit will encircle one's neck with haptic guidance actuators arrayed like a clock face - with an actuator at each hour, with short vertical actuator tabs extending above the ring and below the ring (behind the neck) to indicate up or down choices when navigating large multi-level buildings. Done right it will be aesthetically appealing, eventually proving fashionable and spanning multiple pricing tiers . Commercially it will link to social location-based apps and allow for meet-ups at large venues such as trade shoes, festivals or on campus simply by the user requesting someone send a rendezvous location to their mobile, providing hands-free, linked navigation through crowds to a contact. Further, it could interface with discrete augmented reality eye wear for visual routing cues, distance to target data and related linked visual guidance. First trade-marked under: Ring-Me® Marketing pitch: The next step beyond smart phones Market competition: Developed and licenced by Samsung, produced under licence by Motorola and Apple. Announced: May, 2019 First deployment: April, 2020 Wide-spread, multi-sector market penetration achieved: September, 2023
Fun times coming...
Bob Flint
Seriously has mankind forgotten any sense of direction, how to read a map, or even know which way is north?
ljaques
A $900, battery-sucking, dorky-tourist-looking, nausea-inducing replacement for a person's sense of direction? What have we come to as a species? Doesn't a $3 necklace which holds your GPS out from your chest work well enough as a hands-free device?
MarcStizzy
Complete waste of time and money.