Personal Navigation

Filed in archive Cool , Products , Science , Technology on August 18, 2006

Everyone knows and loves car navigation systems. Now you can imagine how cool a personal navigation system would be. Most of all this one: the Georgia Institute of Technology presents SWAN - the System for Wearable Audio Navigation. And the "Audio" is the most thrilling part.

The computer calculates your location and the direction you look to and then sends 3D audio cues to you. When you change your looking direction the computer recognizes that and is always able to tell you if "right" is still right or changed to "left". Great stuff.

The current SWAN prototype consists of a small laptop computer worn in a backpack, a tracking chip, additional sensors including GPS (Global Positioning System), a digital compass, a head tracker, four cameras and light sensor, and special headphones called bone phones. The researchers selected bone phones because they send auditory signals via vibrations through the skull without plugging the user's ears, an especially important feature for the blind who rely heavily on their hearing.

Read more @ Medgadget