Vibrating GPS rings could make traversing foreign lands easier

To be quite honest, there's been an awful lot of gadgetry lately tied to rings, and while it's a curious fascination, you won't find us griping over the latest ring-based device. Gail Knight's vibrating GPS hoops are nothing short of a traveler's dream come true, as these fanciful finger adornments work in conjunction with a neck-worn GPS controller to direct you to your destination via simple buzzing cues. The rings vibrate in a variety of manners to instruct the wearer which direction to go, which could certainly help an English tourist in Japan feel a lot more at home. Granted, even the inventor admits that the current design is entirely more suited for a lady, but we can envision quite a few macho gents putting their pride aside in order to refrain from being lost.

[Via NaviGadget]

[Jay @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:12AM]

Hi,

Can't guys slip this in their pocket? How intense is the buzzing?

[Andrew Borem @ Jul 23rd 2007 4:12PM]

Best. Comment. Ever.

[TIMMAH! @ Jul 23rd 2007 4:49PM]

Schwing!

[Mike @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:29AM]

Could easily be added to a watch I bet (or a watch band to attach to your existing watch).

once the tech is complete, the packaging shouldn't be a problem. Hell, an article came thru a while ago about a guy who walked around with a belt the vibrated to tell him which way was north. Add this type of ability to your clothing, or your shoes, or the ear pieces of your glasses etc, etc, etc.

Build the GPS/software/googlemaps into your cell phone to control what ever indicators you have and you'll be able to walk around without looking like a tourist! Great example of a simple idea that could really change people's lives.

[NHAnimator @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:38AM]

The joy buzzer is updated. When I was a kid, if I shook hands with someone wearing one of those, it told me to go in the opposite direction.

[wenge @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:21AM]

Nothing says "Tourist" like a buzzing GPS ring.

[Rynth @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:26AM]

Nothing says "Goverments! track me!" like a GPS ring either..

[Roger Rees @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:35AM]

I'm sure your government has nothing better to do than track where you're going. You must be very important.

[Rynth @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:37AM]

Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean that they aren't watching me!

[patsy @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:33AM]

> the current design is entirely more suited for a lady...

...of the night, perhaps! I mean, really, that design would go best with half a pound of makeup and mascara.

[patsy @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:49AM]

On a more serious note, what's with all these outlandish designs? We already have a device that is evolving very nicely in the direction of a mobile travel companion: the cell phone. Windows Live Mobile from Microsoft is a great little traveling app that could be enhanced even more with the addition of two features to the phone: GPS and an electronic compass. Together they would enable the phone to know what it's pointing at so it can bring up even more relevant location based information. You would for example point the phone at a building and it could display a list of all business it houses, or the movies playing at a theater, or the menu of a restaurant. Yes, all this stuff has been mentioned before in relation to futuristic devices with head mounted display or what have you. The reality of it is though that all of it is already doable today without all the fancy gear, just a couple of cheap components in the cell phone. Plus perhaps a server side method to optimize the correlation of all this location based information without having to do all the low level grunt work (and data transfers) from the lowly phone itself.

[Mr. Vage @ Jul 23rd 2007 10:54AM]

Oh it's THAT kind of vibrating ring. Well then, I guess there's nothing of interest here.

[CaptSaltyJack @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:07AM]

Yes, yes, I'll keep walking this way. Ok, now go north, yes. Oh, look, GPS has carelessly guided me through Yakuza territory! If only I'd picked up that guide book instead...

[brandon @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:20AM]

It's not really a big deal that it is only fashionable for a woman, because men don't need to purchase anything to help them with directions anyway, correct?

[bombastinator @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:14PM]

until the locals beat you up for wearing some of the lamest jewelry the world has ever seen

[Mathew @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:52PM]

"...but we can envision quite a few macho gents putting their pride aside in order to refrain from being lost."

Nope, never.

[mr friggles @ Jul 23rd 2007 2:25PM]

Who paid engad for this cheesy little blurp? No "macho gents" will be wearing that stupid looking ring or neckband. Oh yeah, and what women is this marketed to? The ones that haven't hit puberty yet???

And even tourists don't like to feel like cattle behind herded around. I can just imagine this thing being a huge boom to the theft/kidnapping industry. Nothing says "I'm a tourist, ROB ME!" like a giant-size cartoonish GPS ring on your finger. Just hope they don't know you're American, or getting robbed might be the least of your worries.

[Zane @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:52PM]

Great, there comes the obese American tourist wearing Tommy Bahama floral shirt, shorts and those big toes sticking out of dirty Teva sandals, buzzing all over Champs-Élysée. Haven't we been embarrassed enough around the world?

[R.J. Carter @ Jul 23rd 2007 5:30PM]

The Captain Midnite Decoder Ring has returned!

Can I get a ring that opens up to spit out a full-sized Flash costume? I've been wanting that one for a while now.

[-Tj- @ Jul 23rd 2007 7:24PM]

Plate it in gold, encrust the buttons with diamonds, and charge ungodly amounts of cash for it (don't forget the numbered certificate), then prepare to get your bling on.


(I'm kidding. Seriously. Please... no.)