
Body Suit Gives You Real-Life 'Spidey Sense' - Lightning
http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/body-suit-spidey-sense-130222.htm
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MichaelApproved
_He his colleagues also want to test SpiderSense on visually impaired people
and add more sensors for future trials._

This sounds like it would be a major breakthrough for the visually impaired
community. Can anyone here speak on this subject? I'm curious to know if it's
truly as amazing as I think it is.

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rfreytag
Better pictures, use cases (e.g. slippers for the elderly) and paper here:
<http://www.evl.uic.edu/files/pdf/SpiderSenseCameraReady.pdf>

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andrewflnr
This is one of those inventions that immediately inspires lust. I want one.
Even better, with electroactive polymers or similar can easily see it being
incorporated into an unobtrusive undergarment... Or an ostentatious super-
suit, for that matter.

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kenshiro_o
I can definitely see some military/security-related applications for this
suit; for better or worse... Anyway this is an exciting invention ! But the
downside of the suit is that it does not filter surroundings based on a
aggression/negative intent. Now I don't know how we could easily detect that
an individual wants us harm : maybe faster heart rate, he/she is the only one
following us and is either walking/running fast to catch up or tails us at a
defined pace. Actually is an individual's walking pattern unique? If yes that
could also distinguish everyone around you. Anyway that is the most exciting
article I have read today. Time to get some work done now:D

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DesaiAshu
In related news for the visually impaired:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/health/fda-approves-
techno...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/health/fda-approves-technology-
to-give-limited-vision-to-blind-people.html?_r=0) Putting the two together
would be incredible.

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kanamekun
This would solve a real problem in New York City... pedestrians so wrapped up
in their smartphones that they walk right into traffic signs, other people and
even into moving traffic!

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drucken
Did they plug the ears/control for hearing of the test subjects too?

By hearing alone I can sense almost any human or sufficiently strong
electrical presence, especially indoors.

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edwardio
It seems as though this would only work if you were not moving. Is there a way
to determine the relative position of people even if you were moving?

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pliny
Is there a difference between you approaching someone, and someone approaching
you?

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MichaelApproved
I don't know if OP meant this but you approaching someone means that you are
walking or otherwise moving your own body, which creates special challenges.

Things like your own arms waving around your body as you move would need to be
accounted for and not detected as foreign objects.

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TeMPOraL
> Things like your own arms waving around your body as you move would need to
> be accounted for and not detected as foreign objects.

I don't think you need to account for it; your brain will quickly correlate
your movements with suit's reaction and filter them out on subconscious level.
Brains are very good at that (and that's the reason this suit works well in
the first place).

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rikacomet
yes, exactly, that why the people who tested it, weren't confused by own arms,
and were able to achieve a accuracy of 95%. That's amazing!

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dquigley
If it worked effectively there would be a military use as well.

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rikacomet
yeah, its totally going to be a great boon for visually impaired community,
specially when these sensors can be made a bit smaller, and one problem is
worked out, that is, in a crowd, it may go crazy, so this a lot of field tests
away. 7 sensors only, is a great achievement. Also, they would have to work
out how to make them waterproof, increase the range to avoid potholes on the
road, and vibration setting adjustment.

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MichaelApproved
Sounds like everything Googles automatic cars are working on. I bet a lot of
that technology can be used for a system like this.

