Design of a Wearable Haptic Navigation Tool for Cyclists

Since cyclists do not have their auditory and visual channels completely available while riding a bicycle, it is unsafe for them to use the GPS navigation tool provided by smartphones, which is based on audio and visual cues. In such situations, the haptic channel can be suitable to deliver information. Therefore, a research developing a system that uses haptic cues to give bicycle riders turn-by-turn information was carried out. The proposed solution uses two vibrotactile motors, each one located on each wrist. The motors are controlled by an Arduino board connected via Bluetooth to an Android App which oversees the GPS navigation and provides real-time turn-by-turn instructions. The cyclist is informed on the direction by the vibration of the motors: if the motor vibrating is located on the left wrist then s/he would have to turn left, and the same applies to the other side. We used two types of buzzes: a single buzz indicates a distance of approximately 60 m, and a double buzz points out that the turn is imminent. When both motors are activated at the same time the system communicates to the user the arrival to the destination. The system was initially tested with few users giving positive feedback. The haptic signal was considered intuitive and easy to understand, efficiently providing turn-by-turn navigation instructions.