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MIT Researchers Create a Cheap "6th Sense" Device
thefickler writes "MIT researchers have combined a mobile projector with a webcam and mobile phone to create a device that draws information from the environment. For example, the gadget recognizes products on store shelves and can provide product and price comparison information. The sixth-sense device was cobbled together from common parts costing just $300. While the gadget is not being primed for mass release, it represents a forward-thinking way of blending technology with our environment."
Scanning a bar code and looking up info and prices on the internet is such a a cool idea. In fact, it's such a super-cool idea that it won a prize. Last year. On Android. See:
http://code.google.com/android/adc_gallery/
and
http://www.android.com/market/#app=compareeverywhere
There's also the sense of body position, whose name escapes me, but that's not an external sense.
Proprioception
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception
-Steve http://www.stevennicholson.com
I've got a T-Mobile G1 and there are actually a couple of different programs that do this. The one I'm using (and it seems to me the majority of people are using) is ShopSavvy.
It seems to do a pretty good job of identifying products by barcodes as long as they aren't storebrand items. Its ability to locate the same item at other local stores isn't that great but my guess is that with time they, or someone like them, will build a large enough database and the necessary connections with retailers to make that work. Until then it is mostly useful for looking up reviews for books/DVDs/music and seeing how much I would save going to Amazon, letting me know if I'll save enough to make it worth my while to wait.
You perhaps read this, and you're not the only person to want one. This guy also built one, and perhaps we should too.
A DIY version of this was just on hackaday today actually.
http://hackaday.com/2009/02/05/haptic-compass/
It's apparently _very_ easy to build...so if you want one, build it! :)
There's also the sense of body position, whose name escapes me, but that's not an external sense.
Proprioception
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception
Kinesthetic. It's the feedback to the motor centers about how stretched your muscle fibers are and how much tension they are under.
There's a perfect xkcd for my sig but I'm too lazy to look it up. sudo someone go find it.
Soldering isn't hard. Learn what a cold solder joint is and how not to make them (short version: heat the joint, then let the solder melt on, don't "paint" it on). Use leaded solder (far easier to work with than the lead-free stuff). More doesn't help; it just gets in the way. Don't overdo it. Tin your tip properly when you first get it, and keep it clean with a wet sponge. Oh, and practice a bit on pieces of wire instead of pricey components :)
The only schematics that were created on that project were napkin sketches and annotations on the datasheet printouts. I'll draw something up, but not before this weekend. I'll post another reply when I do.