Experiencing VOS: A Visual Orientation System

Abstract

This demo introduces VOS - a Visual Orientation System. Since orientation without visual cues is challenging for humans, situations in which visibility is limited pose hindrance and sometimes a threat to human activities. To explore the augmentation design space that enables focusing the sense of hearing, we chose a particular application scenario: swimming in open-water. We developed augmented swimming-goggles that provide visual feedback to complement the sense of orientation. Currently, we explore different information encoding methods. The presented prototype illustrates the differences between using a continuous signal to convey absolute directions and discrete signals to indicate a relative direction.