INSPIRATION

The inspiration of the project came while few of the team members were trying to observe fireflies at night. We walked around 100 yards using flashlights. After reaching the designated area, we had to stand without flashlights to observe the fireflies. All of a sudden, everyone started shuffling around to get a better look at the fireflies. 

Without any idea about the surroundings, I realized how this scenario could be even scarier by adding motion. If a hiker has to hike without any light source at night, it may be a safety hazard.  

DESIGN PROCESS

Any project becomes even more challenging when you are trying to ideate and prototype with limited resources in a jungle!

The first direction was to install the sensor and the electronics around the hand, as we tend to navigate a dark place using our hands. However, on evaluation of the concept by wrapping pieces of clothes and trying to walk around, I realized how it may cause potential damage to the scanner by getting hit on the artifacts in the surroundings such as trees, rocks etc. 

To understand the context better, I walked in the dark again at night only to realize that in addition to the hand movement, I was turning my head based on the movement and sounds in my surroundings. This observation helped me in coming up with a second iteration for the initial concept to have a head based mounting for the product.

WEARABLES IN THE WILD: OVERVIEW VIDEO

To get a brief overview of the overall Wearable in the Wild Hackathon, check out the video:

http://play.media.gatech.edu/s/gtri.gatech.edu/ICL/1fc56cff-01e8-596f-94ef-f7c8cb14417e

Work in Progress!