Sensebridge

Noisebridge Cyborg Group

"If you can't beat the robot armies, join them."

We are concerned with human-machine interfaces.

Input

Our first task will be to experiement with data input modes. What signals can we overlay upon the body's standard senses, and by what means? Of particular interest are electro- and vibro-tactile stimulation. What bandwiths are available according to the nature and location of input stimuli?

Secondly, we need to identify useful measurements to input. Sensory augmentation has been around for centuries, think of magnifying glasses or hearing aids. Sensory substitution, on the other hand, involves the transposition of one sensory stimulus into another: seeing sound, hearing distance, feeling vision, etc. Sensory extension is measuring signals beyond regular human abilities, such as magnetometry, radar, echo location or even digital signals coming from a wireless network carrying such diverse information as locations of friends in crowds or network activity on one's website.

Output

The study of output is a question in how we can interface with machines beyond the manual button pushing and lever pulling. Some ideas in this field are biomechanical feedback, pluse detection, eye-tracking, etc.

First Investigations

There seems to be a strong interest in developing a tactile wearable compasses, but in ways far more effective and practical than big vibrating belts. A first study will be in what other possible device configurations and what possible signal modulation are both 1) intuitive enough for sub-concious integration into the wearer's cognitive space, and 2) pratical to wear in terms of size, weight, design, energy consumption, and noisiness.

Another field of general interest are tongue stimulation devices. We will discuss how to either order or make one or several of these.