Pre-sale of Cyborg implant for sensing North
cyborgnest.net
cyborgnest.net
[0]http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Tactile-Feedba... [1]https://sensebridge.net/projects/northpaw/
I did not find it a very helpful tool for navigation. In my experience I orient myself by landmarks and constantly knowing exactly which way is north was not that useful, even when walking in nature. I did not try it in a completely unknown place though. Perhaps the most interesting part was how it corrected the intuitive picture of how my home city is oriented - the anklet clearly showed that streets that I always associated with straight north-south and east-west lines were curved and not so perfectly aligned.
I don't think it's a coincidence that I started using GPS navigation heavily around this same time. My mental mapping in general has degraded a lot since I started relying on turn-by-turn magic for all non-familiar navigation.
edit: Is there an off-the-shelf solution like the Northpaw that looks less like a house arrest cuff? I can't imagine wearing something that clunky as a usual thing. The market demand for this in a sleek package is probably close to zero, though.
https://pganssle.github.io/HaptiCap/
Haven't had much time since then to update the instructions on how to build it or make significant improvements, but I personally thought the hat form factor was better than the anklet or belt. Even in my prototype version it's pretty hard to tell it's anything other than a normal hat.
Also, I don't see how this qualifies as an implant? In their defense, I can't obviously see anywhere they call it such; the title is just wrong here.
It's just a device that sits on top of a couple barbell piercings and vibrates. To be honest, I'm far from impressed. The seemingly new-age-hocus-pocus-spirituality bullshit branding and wording doesn't help either.
For 250 quid why not get a watch that provides wrist-facing haptic feedback, maybe attach it via bluetooth to a digital compass?
> I see no implementation details
I am excited that we're moving this direction in our society, but I strongly think this is where we need open-source hardware and software. I really don't like the idea of giving control of my physical self to a company, even for something as silly as telling me where north is.
Totally agree with you about the need for open-source hardware and software, especially for devices that become part of our selves! That's one of the many reasons this device bugs me.
[0] http://www.wired.com/2006/06/a-sixth-sense-for-a-wired-world...
I see it similar to self-driving cars: No matter how good or useful they will be, there will be people who "don't want no robot driving me around". Likewise, there will be people who think that implanting ourselves with computers is an "abomination".
From reading that link, it doesn't sound like those are "smart" devices? I think that's where we will see people start to have strong opinions about this.
You are correct; they are not. The compass device in this story isn't implanted either, it sits atop some piercings on the chest. No smart device is being put under the skin here, either.
Food for thought: I met a guy who made an earring that vibrated when he got an incoming SMS. That was a 'smart' device that sat atop a piercing too...
> I met a guy who made an earring that vibrated when he got an incoming SMS. That was a 'smart' device that sat atop a piercing too...
What makes this product interesting to me is that it's "off-the-shelf". The earing, while cool, is a home-made solution (I'm guessing). And to be clear: I don't think this product is revolutionary, I just find it interesting that things have become so small and cheap that we can do this en-mass.
While technically an 'implant', it seems more like this device sits on top of an implant (the barbells). No device is actually being embedded under your skin.
But I guess we're just playing with definitions now and not talking about the product itself. :P
What I'm most worried about is battery life. If I have to recharge every week (or more), I would give up after a few weeks. Also, what risk is there snagging this thing on your shirt when you get dressed, or crushing it under a barbell when working out? Doing any sort of fighting sport would be impossible too I guess, even if you could take the actual sensor/vibrating thing out.
http://news.mit.edu/2012/glucose-fuel-cell-0612
Many bonus points if the implant's power cell can mimic actual exercise.
> NEIL HARBISSON
> Cyborg artist with an internet enabled antenna implanted in his skull that allows him to perceive colours beyond the visual spectrum and connect to satellites to sense colours from space.
Will this be any more accurate? I would choose a phone specially for a better compass, as I often find google maps less useful in cities until I figure out which direction is north.
External metals are always a problem, though. You can incorporate accelerometer data which kinda helps to protect against quick transients.
The earth's magnetic filed is an incredibly complex system. I know this is more about the "implantability" rather than the compass, but still, something to keep in mind.
For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination
Also, this won't be you "closer to nature" because humans are not naturally attuned to physically know when we are facing north.
Perhaps more importantly, how annoying would this be if every time you rolled over at night, you faced true north and got a nice vibration to wake you up.
We're not attuned to be able to see where we're going via sonar, sense magnetic fields, etc. On the other hand, we're great at learning, and at adapting to when a sense is lost or added.
And the vibration really won't be that significant, it only has to be enough to get some feedback from it.
Taking advantage of people's passive integration of sensory input into their perception of the world around them seems like a reasonable aid for people who have difficulty with things of this nature.
It's still very easy to lose your sense of direction in unfamiliar territory, even when you're paying attention.
This product isn't really an implant. A "pierceable", perhaps.
My guess is, this gadget is probably going to appeal mainly to the techno body modification crowd. In other words, a rather limited market, for now.
Medical applications are where implants will eventually shine: glucose level monitors for diabetics, for example.
This is somehow still a limited market in general, we do hope to do the best and try to bring technology integration into the mainstream, the world is ready.
Here for anything else, Cheers!
Maybe I'm old fashion. I will be interested in what others say about their experiences with such devices.
http://gizmodo.com/5895555/i-have-a-magnet-implant-in-my-fin...
But wait! I want divining rods implanted in my forearms! I can see the benefits already.
Please go watch "The Embrace of the Serpent" right now.
Doesn't need to be an implant!
> Liviu was the COO of Videre est Credere, featured in the WIRED as 'Carlos', due to security restrictions at the time the article was published.
People with showdead on should watch for comments to vouch for.
I don't want an implant to achieve something I can manage with a needle and a bowl of water.
On the other hand, it does seem to be a pretty rubbish implementation. A dongle that you have to anchor to your chest with piercings, and whose idea of "really, really small" is an inch square seems significantly behind where I believed implant technology was.
I might be tempted to try this if it was a tiny, surgically implanted chip that had no other effects, but having some huge trinket dangling off my chest getting stuck in things seems like it would only be attractive to people who wanted something to act as a replacement for an interesting personality in conversation.
It's not the same thing at all. It's about being able to sense north all the time.
Not getting a compass out, or your silly solution of a bowl of water and a needle. About just knowing which direction north is. There's been (well received) articles here before about people wearing haptic belts that did the same thing.
Here's an example:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028185-800-haptic-s...
For me this looks too bulky and inconvenient to actually use.