Vibro-Vest

A Wireless Haptic Navigation Device

This project is an experiment in touch sensing navigation and exploring new methods of communication. This was built by myself and 3 others at Carnegie Mellon University in the Fall of 2002.

Similar to 'human chess', Our demonstration was like 'human Pac Man'. We used a life sized maze, an upright video game controller, a self-contained wireless vibro-tactile navigation vest, and blinders and earplugs for the person wearing the vest. Possible applications are for the blind or for any other means where silent non-visual navigation or communication is needed.

The goal for this project was to research a problem space and invent a product to fill that need. My role in this project included acting as the project leader, the initial concept, electronics engineering, and embedded processor programming.

The Vest Hardware and Video Game Console

The Human-Sized Maze

Circuit diagram for the transducer array