Tag Archives: GPS + Navigation

Navdy HUD for Cars Helps Keep Eyes on the Road

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I’ve long wanted to have a slick heads-up display in my car to show me things like speed, RPM, and direction. That would be much cooler than having my iPhone attached to the windshield with a RAM mount. I’d also really like it if the device would stay put so when I am driving a car on the racetrack so I could use it to see how fast I was going and the RPMs of the car without looking down.

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Navdy might be exactly what I need. It is a small device that links to Android or iOS smartphones via Bluetooth 4.0 and gives you a HUD to look at. It will show GPS directions from Google Maps, and connects to your vehicle’s OBD II port to get speed, RPMs and other data about the car. Navdy can also display information from your smartphone, including text messages, and allow you to screen and answer phone calls.

It uses a projector to throw an image on a 5-inch screen that appears to float 6-feet in front of the driver, and is controlled using simple gestures, so you don’t have to reach in your pocket to grab your phone.

For the next month, the pre-order price of Navdy is $299(USD) – with the normal price being $499. Shipping is set to start in 2015. I think I want one of these.

goTenna Smartphone Radio Antenna: No Signal, No Problem

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An upcoming device called goTenna could turn smartphones and other mobile devices into modern walkie-talkies. The portable antenna uses VHF radio waves, allowing you to send text messages over short distances without the need for cellular reception or an Internet connection.

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The goTenna connects to a mobile device via Bluetooth. It will have an iOS and Android app from which you can send messages, share your location and read messages sent by other goTenna users. If your phone is off, the goTenna can store any messages sent to you in its flash memory so you’ll still be able to read them later. It has a water-resistant and dustproof case, and has a battery that should get you up to 30 hours of continuous use per charge.

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Speaking with Gigaom, goTenna CEO and co-founder Daniela Perdomo said you can reach other goTenna users as far as 50 miles away if you’re in a really open space, like on a mountaintop. But that range shrinks down to about a mile in dense environments like forests or cities.

You can already pre-order goTenna online for $150 (USD) per pair, but you might want to wait until the product gets reviewed by radio enthusiasts or at least until it gets the FCC’s approval.

[via Gigaom]

Adam Savage’s Awesome Man Cave Hits Google Street View

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If you have ever watched an episode of Mythbusters, you know who Adam Savage is. He is the ginger that builds so many of the contraptions that smash myths – or prove them correct – on the show. He also has an awesome man cave, as you might guess.

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If you ever wondered what his personal workshop looks like, thanks to Google Maps Street View, you can now check it out. It’s a very cool place complete with full-size C-3PO and Chewbacca statues, an Atari Millipede arcade game, and thousands of awesome and creepy props and masks from movies, TV shows and commercials.Heck, he’s even got Hellboy in his bathroom.

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Savage also has a YouTube video up where he goes over exactly what is hidden away in his space. Check out the video below and see all of what this sweet place of things manly and geeky has to offer – then head to Google Street View and start exploring for yourself.

[via The Mary Sue]

Adam Savage’s Awesome Man Cave Hits Google Street View

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If you have ever watched an episode of Mythbusters, you know who Adam Savage is. He is the ginger that builds so many of the contraptions that smash myths – or prove them correct – on the show. He also has an awesome man cave, as you might guess.

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If you ever wondered what his personal workshop looks like, thanks to Google Maps Street View, you can now check it out. It’s a very cool place complete with full-size C-3PO and Chewbacca statues, an Atari Millipede arcade game, and thousands of awesome and creepy props and masks from movies, TV shows and commercials.Heck, he’s even got Hellboy in his bathroom.

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Savage also has a YouTube video up where he goes over exactly what is hidden away in his space. Check out the video below and see all of what this sweet place of things manly and geeky has to offer – then head to Google Street View and start exploring for yourself.

[via The Mary Sue]

Robot Parking System: Metal Gear Valet

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We’re already working on autonomous cars, so why not have autonomous parking systems? Düsseldorf Airport recently opened a premium parking service that employs robot valets called Ray. Made by Serva Transport Systems, Ray is equipped with forklifts to transport vehicles in and out of the airport’s parking area.

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When you leave your car at the airport’s premium parking, a laser scanner will measure your vehicle. If needed, the assigned Ray will then adjust the width of its forklift handles to accommodate your vehicle. The robot then uses more lasers to navigate the parking area and avoid obstacles, tightly packing parked cars together like sardines.  Because the system doesn’t involve human drivers i.e. no one has to enter or exit the vehicles, Ray can store cars closer together, maximizing the parking area’s capacity.

When you get back, you can use an Android app to alert the parking system, so that a robot can retrieve your vehicle. Düsseldorf Airport also implies that the retrieval process can be automated, because you’ll log in your flight details – including your arrival – when you leave your car.

Düsseldorf’s presentation video below is in German, but the demo is mostly self-explanatory:

Serva’s animated presentation shows how multiple Rays can work together to move vehicles around:

Have your browser transport you to Serva Transports Systems’ website for more on Ray.

[via Düsseldorf Airport via designboom]

 

Hexo+ Is a Flying Autonomous GoPro Camera Drone

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Aerial filming is a cool way to share more of what’s going on in some sports or activities. GoPro cameras are used by a lot of active folks to record their antics, but most of those videos are recorded from the wearers point of view. A new GoPro flying platform has turned up on Kickstarter called the Hexo+, which will allow for autonomous tracking and video capture of a target from the air.

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Hexo+ is an autonomous flying camera platform that is controlled using an app running on a smartphone .The app allows the user to chose the person they will be recording and to center them in the frame. Using the app the videographer also chooses where the drone will start.

The camera has a top speed of 45mph allowing it to follow fast moving subjects as well. The Hexo+ also has foldable legs and a foldable frame, and the propellers and gimbal can be detached so it can be carried in a backpack.

If you have your own GoPro and access to a 3D printer, a pledge of at least $299 will get you a Hexo+ drone kit, while $599 will get you a fully-assembled drone – without the GoPro. $699 will buy you a Hexo+ with a GoPro Hero White Edition included.

Google Maps Offers “Dragon” Transport Easter Egg

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If you want Google Maps to give you directions from Snowdon to Brecon Beacons in Wales, it will estimate travel times by car, bus, foot, plane, bicycle, and now by dragon. Obviously we want to go by dragon. So selecting dragon, Google Maps gives you an estimated travel time of 21 minutes. You see why you go dragon? Fastest mode of travel ever.

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Google Maps also shows a dragon icon which is very similar to the one on the Welsh flag. But sadly, this appears to be the only route that allows dragon travel. Maybe they have trouble feeding them along the way.

They don’t make it easy for Daenerys Targaryen to get around. We need more dragon routes. For now, we’ll have to take get around Westeros and Essos another way.

[via Roadtrippers via Neatorama]

Google Maps 3.0 Update Adds Lane Assistance and More

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I go to the same places roughly every month and you would think I would memorize the routes. It’s usually very early in the morning when I am driving and I can’t see landmarks, so I rely on Google Maps navigation to clue me in. Each time I go, I end up habitually in the wrong lane for one of the turns. A new update is now available for Google Maps that should end that problem.

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The Google Maps 3.0 update is adding in Lane Assistance to tell you what lane you need to be in before your turn. That isn’t all the update is adding. It also brings the ability to save a map for offline use so you can access it with no data connection.

The app will also get the ability to browse places to eat, bars, and hotels along your route. Uber users with the Uber app installed will also be able to see how long a commute is if you walk and how long it is with a ride from Uber. It also now integrates schedules for buses and trains into its public transportation directions.

All of these improvements are available now in both the Android and iOS versions of Google Maps.

Google Glass Privacy App Spots Security Cameras & Other Glass Users: Soliton Radar

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Modern stealth action video games like the Metal Gear Solid series and the new Deus Ex often have a radar feature that lets you see enemies and cameras, among other things. New media artist Sander Veenhof made a similar app for Google Glass. He calls it Watch Your Privacy, and it uses open data to locate nearby surveillance cameras. That includes the mobile kind, i.e. other Glass users.

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Watch Your Privacy uses a database of surveillance cameras called OSMcamera. Sander didn’t elaborate how his app spots other Glass users, just that it maps “the latitute/longitude coordinates of each Google Glass user.”

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The app marks both cameras and users with a triangular warning sign along with a number, their distance from you and their coordinates. In addition, it marks the approximate coverage area of surveillance cameras. You can either have the area appear mark them as non-safe (red) or safe zones (green). If you want to stay hidden like Solid Snake, you’ll want to mark those areas red. If you feel more comfortable in a place with security cameras then you’ll mark their coverage areas green.

Glass users, crawl to your browser and head to Sander’s website to download his app.

[via Prosthetic Knowledge]