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Headband Gives Wearer "Sixth-Sense"

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the use-the-force dept.

An anonymous reader writes "New Scientist reports on a headband developed at the University of Tokyo that allows the wearer to feel their surroundings at a distance — as if they had cats whiskers. Infrared sensors positioned around the headband vibrate to signal when and where an object is close. There are also a few great videos of people using it to dodge stuff while blindfolded."

8 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Augmentation of senses by BWJones · · Score: 5, Informative

    Augmentation of existing senses has been going on for some time now. In particular, there is a very interesting project running through the Office of Naval Research using Navy Seals and a tongue prosthetic designed to impart sonar information to the tongue using electrical stimulii. Technology like this is very cool stuff that at the very least will help with mission specific tasks, but even better allows folks who have one or more senses compromised to continue to function and navigate their worlds.

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    1. Re:Augmentation of senses by not-enough-info · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, time for some buzzing shoes with forward looking IR then. Shouldn't be much of a problem to put the electronics and battery into the soles and attach the sensor at the front. Replace the mechanical buzzer with a some kind of low voltage stimulator and you could probably even use a piezoelectric power source in the sole of the shoe to power the device. You wouldn't even need batteries.
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  2. Fixed link by BWJones · · Score: 4, Informative

    Oh and since Daddypants did not read emails prior to hitting publish here is the fixed link for TFA.

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    1. Re:Fixed link by PlatyPaul · · Score: 5, Informative

      Click here for Google's cached version of the page.

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  3. Youtube Link by hey0you0guy · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70_MwrkDOVU Haptic Radar Video on Youtube. Since the linked site seems to be down.

  4. Previously on Slashdot! by avirrey · · Score: 2, Informative

    I prefer the darpa one sometime ago.
    http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/02/1551207
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  5. Re:Already have that by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 4, Informative

    Intuition isn't a sense, it's a form of post-sensory cognition.

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  6. Daredevil in Real Life by StCredZero · · Score: 2, Informative

    With this, someone could be Daredevil in real life.

    Here's a kid who does it without any technological aids!

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/19/earlyshow/main1817689.shtml