You can either retrace your steps, walk around the entire parking lot or basement parking area until you find your car, or just randomly hit the unlock and lock button on your car key so you can be guided by the sound of your car being locked and unlocked as you inch closer.

Or you could just wait until AHHAPROJECT’S Car Compass concept becomes a reality. While there are already some apps on the market to help you find your car, the Car Compass is envisioned as a simple enhancement to your car’s key fob.

It works just like a regular compass, but instead of gauging what direction you’re headed, it will point you in the right direction towards your car. You can literally say goodbye to walking around aimlessly in the parking lot (or thinking that someone stole your car!) once you’ve got this thing in your hands.

[via Yanko Design]

I would not want the job of taking the street view photos down the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers for anything. The Amazon is notoriously packed with piranha and all sorts of other animals that would like to eat you. In order to get the pics they need, Google will strap the trikes to a boat and then take the boat down about 31 miles of the Rio Negro to start. The trip down the jungle trails and the Amazon will apparently come later. The photos taken by the trikes will be turned into the usual 360-degree panoramas.

The project is a joint operation between the Brazil and US Street View teams, Google Earth Outreach, and the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation.

[via PopSci and BBC via PC World]

The haptic belts use an array of vibrating motors called tactors that are spaced at 45-degree intervals. One tactor points in each direction the solider might need to go. As they move along a path noted by waypoints, the tactors will vibrate and point them in the correct direction. To make the device even cooler, the belt can also be connected to a glove worn by the leader so that they vibrate in response to hand signals.

For instance, all the tactors can vibrate when the commander gives the halt hand signal and when the move out signal is given the tactors can vibrate in a back to front motion. The haptic belts can even be programmed by a remote command center to steer squads on a new path based on intel they might not have on the ground.

The haptic belt project is being conducted by Elmar Schmeisser and a team at the Army Research Office in North Carolina.

[via New Scientist via Dvice]

While Volkwagen’s Temporary Auto Pilot won’t take you all the way from point A to point B, it will help you out with your driving. At speeds up to 80mph, you can take off your hands from the wheel, allowing you to cruise easily with no hands and no feet. This system pairs Lane Assist with cruise control, and can be overridden by the driver at any time. It uses radar, lasers, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors to maintain a safe distance between vehicles, start and stop in traffic jams and slow down before a bend. The speed limit can be set by the driver, and the driver must continue to maintain their attention while it’s enabled.

This sounds pretty awesome, but like most high-tech gadgetry for cars, I’d expect to see this only in luxury sedans from the Volkswagen Group.

[via Volkswagen]

Each pair of Transcend goggles has a built-in GPS system, along with a head-mounted display which can tell you how fast you’re traveling, as well as your coordinates and outdoor conditions. It can display real-time stats for: speed, altitude, vertical, total distance, number of runs, and temperature, and also has a stopwatch and clock. It also stores all of your data so you can load it onto your computer and track your progress on Google Maps.

The gadget works its magic through a micro-computer which processes data from an accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature sensor and pressure sensor, providing instantaneous feedback on the HMD. Controls are accessed through three large “glove-friendly” buttons on the side of the goggles, and everything is built into the goggles themselves, including a rechargeable battery with up to 8 hours of run time.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Prices for the Transcend range from $399(USD) for the SPX model with a polarized lens to $499 for the SPPX version with a polarized and photochromic (automatic transitioning) lens. For more details, and to pre-order, head here if you live in Canada – or here if you live anywhere else.

If you live in a city, where you walk places a lot of time or are traveling to a city you aren’t familiar with and plan on walking a lot Google has a new beta offering for you. The service is called Walking Navigation beta. The catch is that you have to be on an Android device and be using Google Maps for Mobile 4.5.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The new beta service is just like the driving navigation, only it takes into account pedestrian walkways and bridges that cars can drive on. In a nutshell, it will route you through a park on a sidewalk rather than having you walk around the park. The app will rotate to match your direction, offers satellite images, and vibrates to tell the walker when to turn.

Artist Garvin Nolte mounted 25 GPS nav gadgets on his windshield and dashboard, then let them all give him directions  to the same place at the same time. It’s not clear from the video if they all wanted him to go take the same route, but from my experience, I’d have to guess no. I once had a Magellan GPS tell me that I needed to drive 400 miles around Lake Michigan to go from Milwaukee to Chicago. At least it didn’t tell me to drive in the lake – that’s something, I suppose.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What I’m most impressed by in Garvin’s video is the fact that he managed to get all the suction cups to stick on his windshield for 9 minutes straight. My Garmin usually falls off on the first bump I hit.

TomTom plans on selling voice tracks from Darth Vader, C-3PO, Yoda and Han Solo, but they’ll will probably sell more Darth Vader tracks than anything, as is evidenced by this hilarious clip of Darth in the recording studio laying down some phat GPS tracks.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can get your hands on the Darth Vader sounds now over at the TomTom site for $12.95(USD). The other character voices should arrive throughout the Summer.

[via The Awesomer]

Measuring in at 13mm thick, this portable GPS is definitely one of the slimmest units I’ve seen. Although last time I checked, my iPhone 3GS is actually a hair slimmer at 12.3mm thick, but I suppose that’s splitting hairs. Regardless, as standalone units go, this one could be the thinnest. The compact GPS features a 5-inch diagonal LCD touchscreen, and is powered by a SiRF-Atlas III processor. The device runs on the Windows CE 5.0 operating system, and takes map files loaded onto a MicroSD card. The system offers voice guidance, 2D and 3D map modes, as well as day and night modes for the display.

In addition to its GPS capabilities, it can play media files in MP4, AVI, 3GP, MOV, WMV, M4A, WAV, MP3, WMA and even SWF formats. There’s even a built-in FM transmitter so you can send the audio to your car stereo. And it does all this for just $100 (USD).

So that sounds okay, right? Well, here’s the bad news. According to Chinavasion’s product description: “This model is compatible with most brands of GPS software – however hardware specific software such as Garmin may not run on this unit. As the wholesaler, Chinavasion provides the GPS- enabled hardware only, not the software. Chinavasion provides no warranty or customer support regarding GPS software. Chinavasion cannot provide downloads / links / advice regarding GPS software. Any software installation you undertake should be performed or supervised by a professional… Actual GPS voice and display languages depends on the GPS software package.” So unless you know where to go digging for Windows CE-based GPS applications and maps, it sounds like this super-thin GPS could be pretty much useless.

If you’re feeling adventurous and don’t mind trolling around some Torrents looking for GPS software, you can order one here. Just don’t blame me when you drive your car into a drainage ditch.

Buss and his team dropped ACE outside of their university and instructed it to go to the Marienplatz, which is 1.5 kilometers (0.93 mi) away from the school. ACE’s problem? It didn’t know how to get there, and it had no digital map or GPS. So ACE had to ask the people it came across for directions.

ACE can detect nearby humans using cameras as well as motion- and posture detecting software. ACE also has a touchscreen for a head, and another screen with an animated mouth. Once it finds a human, ACE calls out using its built-in speaker and asks the person to touch its screen if he’s willing to help. ACE will then ask the good Samaritan to point its body in the right direction. ACE will then be on its way, but not before saying “thank you” to the fleshy construct who helped it.

After 5 hours, ACE reached its destination. In its defense, Buss’ team said that ACE became too popular for his own good, and was slowed down when it crossed a busy pedestrian zone, where 21 passersby stopped to talk to the defenseless robot. As expected, ACE also received wrong directions, but fortunately it only happened once. While ACE still needs to be equipped with a bullshit detector, roboticist Paul Newman of the University of Oxford in the UK was impressed by the German experiment, specially because the robot adapts to how humans process and share information instead of the other way around.

[via NewScientist]

As we all know, a magnetometer tells you how close you are to Magneto. What? It doesn’t — It’s for what? The strength and direction of a magnetic field? Why, that’s even better! It’s exactly what nobody’s been asking for.

But I guess giving people what they want – such as a better camera, or support for Flash – is the concept of inferior minds. Perhaps real geniuses give people something they didn’t know they want. Or perhaps Apple saw that no one is catering to the needs of the stylish and tech-savvy miners, geologists and archeologists, people who want a magnetometer and twenty seven fart apps in one awesome package. What vision; what foresight.

Kokes used “a reference design board containing a Nemerix GPS with an Atmel ATMEGA324 micro-controller” for his hack. He said that the hardware part of his project “is not at all that complex”, but then again he’s an engineer. The software portion, on the other hand, turned out to be a beast of a challenge, as he had to write a screen driver to display the information on the iPod.

Kokes also said that the device he’s working on will not work with touchscreen iPods – and Shuffles of course, because they have no screen at all.

I’ll stop here and direct you to Kokes’ website for more details, because honestly this is all nosebleeding-wizardry to me.

P.S. if you want to post about Kokes’ project or link to his site, he requests that you email him as well, just so he knows.

[via Navigadget]

Designed by China’s Fab Chain, the Ranger is a GPS add-on module for your NDS Lite. Just plug the Ranger into the accessory port on the front of your NDS, and provides turn-by-turn directions with Google Maps integration. The Ranger can display maps in both 2D and fake 3D perspective modes, and even has automatic day/night modes. And since it has its own built in rechargeable batteries, it won’t put added strain on your NDS’ power supply. As an added bonus, you can connect the Ranger to your PC or PDA via a USB connection and use it as a GPS on those devices as well.

Fab Chain hasn’t revealed pricing or a release date yet, but if you always travel with your DS and despite all your other gadgets, you’re still directionally challenged, you might want to look into one of these.

[via Navigadget]

Whether you’re ready to head out on a cross-country road trip, or just around the corner to the grocery, all you need to do is surf over to to Google Maps, print out the directions, transcribe them onto this GPS-enabled pad, then hit the road.

The Paper GPS notepad lets you write up to ten turn-by-turn directions per page, including little arrows you can circle for turns, and boxes for how many miles you need to travel. When you’re all done, you can check off whether you made it to your destination, or got hopelessly lost. Given the fact that my Magellan GPS told me it was 370 miles from Milwaukee to Chicago, maybe this isn’t such a bad idea after all.

The Paper GPS is available from Perpetual Kid for just $6.50 per pad.

Created by builder Che Edoga (aka “darkback2″), his wood and metal robot “Gepetto” can fire paintballs while it tools around via remote control.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While Gepetto was designed first and foremost as an artificially-intelligent mobile robotic platform, the paintball add-on turns it into a work of pure evil genius.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

In addition to being able to carry a load, Gepetto has a built in video camera and screen for interacting with passersby (or maybe to remotely taunt its victims when in paintball mode).

Gepetto is actually strong enough to carry around a laptop on its back, and can manage driving on challenging surfaces thanks to independent wheel mechanisms that can travel as much as three inches in height. While the robot is strong enough to navigate on carpet or other uneven surfaces, it’s probably not going to climb hills any time soon.

Darkback2 plans on continuing to refine the ‘bot’s navigation, intelligence, vision and other systems in the coming months. Check out the details of his progress over on the Trossen Robotics forums. (by the way, Gepetto was a runner up in Trossen’s latest robot contest).

In the mean time, if I see Gepetto coming down the road, I’m heading the other way.

Now, you won’t be using the GPS capabilities to map out automotive routes, but it will come in handy for plotting waypoints for exercise and other outdoor activities. The Forerunner 405 contains all the electronics necessary to track speed, distance, pace, calories burned, location and even heart rate (assuming you add the optional heart rate monitor).

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The watch can automatically sync with your computer wirelessly, downloading workout data as well as receiving route data for future outings. You can even beam locations, workouts and course information with your running companions if they happen to also wear the same type of watch.

The Forerunner 405 is slated for a Q1 2008 release and will retail for about $319 USD.

[via NaviGadget]

Sure, it’s got a razor-sharp 4.3″ 800 x 480 resolution touchscreen for playing video in WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DiVX/XviD and H.264 formats. It’s certainly adept at playing just about any audio format you can throw at it, including WMA, AAC, MP3, and OGG. Heck, it even supports the real-time display of lyrics for tracks tagged with SYLT encoding.

But the device goes well beyond mere media player. The E900T might just be robust enough to be the hub for your entire digital life.

At home, the E900T can connect to your home theater system, pushing out 720p high-def video, accompanied by Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound. If that’s not enough, the audio is powered by the critically-acclaimed Burr-Brown processing circuitry, and is output through a digital S/PDIF connection.

When you’re ready to get up off of your couch and head out, grab your Maxian and hit the road. In the car, the E900T slides into an optional windshield antenna/dock to enable robust GPS navigation capability. There’s also a DMB television receiver, which handles Korea’s digital over-the-air television signals with aplomb, so you passengers can travel without missing their favorite programs.

But that’s not all. Order today, and they’ll throw in a robust electronic dictionary system (called SayDic), complete with English to Korean translation capabilities. Oh yeah, the device can also display documents in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat PDF, and HTML formats. There’s even support for Adobe Flash media playback.

The E900T comes in either a 30GB (white) or 60GB (blue black) version, and storage can be expanded using a built-in SD/MMC card reader. As is typically the case with these kind of Korean technological wonders, I doubt we’ll ever see these stateside. But if you’re willing to do a little research, translate a little Korean and pay for some overseas shipping, you might be able to get your hands on one.

[via EarlyAdopter]

The LetterLogger is small enough to be concealed inside of a standard #10 business envelope, yet contains sophisticated GPS and motion-sensing technology which can record every movement along the letter’s travels. Not only can it record the precise position and timing of each location, but its motion sensors can detect the amount of time when the letter is sitting still, which could help ferret out wasted time during the delivery process.

They should slap one of these directly on every mail carrier too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some delays at the neighborhood bar, donut shop and strip club.

[via Engadget via NaviGadget]

The Deluo MouseGPS embeds a GPS receiver inside of the shell of a USB optical scroll mouse. While you probably won’t be using it as a mouse if you’re in transit, the concept is a definite space-saver in crowded laptop carrying cases. As an added bonus, the device has a retractable USB cord to keep things extra tidy for transport.

Retail price for the MouseGPS is about $100, but you’ll really want to spend the extra $30 to get the version that includes Microsoft Streets & Trips, so you’ll have full mapping and direction capabilities right out of the box. Sure, it’s a little more pricey than buying a mouse and a GPS receiver separately, but it’s just one less thing to lose when you’re on the road.

[via SlipperyBrick]

[Order the Deluo MouseGPS from Amazon]

Case-in-point: the new Provia A1 navigator from Korea’s HTMS. Not only does this new GPS device look totally slick, it’s loaded with more features than you’ve ever dreamed of on your car’s dashboard. For starters, navigation is done using amazingly detailed, razor-sharp 3D maps, complete with models of buildings and other landmarks.

Then, there’s a complete media player with audio and fullscreen video playback in a wide variety of formats. It’s even got a “picture-in-picture” mode, so you can watch a movie while you drive and get directions. Also along for the ride is a DMB receiver, which means it can receive over-the-air digital television broadcasts. It’s all displayed on a gorgeous Samsung 800 x 480 resolution widescreen 7-inch display, complete with a touchscreen interface. It even offers handwriting recognition when you control it with an included stylus.

The Provia A1 is backed by a beefy Intel PXA270 processor, running at 520MHz, the same chip used to run some of the more powerful PDAs out there. There’s 128MB of on-board SDRAM, 128MB for program storage, and you can add up to 2GB more via an SD card. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never see one of these outside of Korea.

[via The Earlyadopter's World]