MH 1—Intuitive measurements over distance
Idea
The main idea was to develop a wearable device, which increases the human senses. The concept "MH1" deals with the process of measuring objects from a certain distance. A simple finger gesture is enough to take the measurement. By focussing the object between the thumb and index finger, the device detects its dimensions.
Process
Sensors close to the human body can increase the human senses by recording data constantly. Correlations are able to be detected by comparing the informations of the sensors, which would not be able to be recognized by natural human senses. We tried to explore which informations of an object are determinable over distance, using an Arduino Board and different distance sensors.
Basic principle
Painters and drawers use a pencil to estimate and transfer lengths onto paper true to scale. This principle and the usage of sensors combined formed the foundation of our final concept. In the next step we tried to apply the process of measuring to an intuitive gesture. The human hand is becoming a measuring tool itself.
Prototype
Based on a number of early-stage-prototypes we developed the final prototype. It consists of a glove, a mount for the sensors and the electronic part. An integrated display in the glove shows the measured values. The prototype is able to measure objects up to 40 m away from the user. On 5 m distance the deviation is about 4 cm.
Woodworker
Woodworkers could benefit from our concept, because at the moment they measure the height of trees with the "stick-method". In doing so, they have to measure the distance to the tree and then use a stick to aim on the height of the tree. On the basis of these values, the worker calculates the approximate height with the intercept theorems. With a work glove which is equipped with our concept, the woodworker could also measure the diameter beside the height of the tree and calculate how much wood he generates by cuttin the tree. Therefore processes could be optimized while maintaining the human in the center. The focus in this future concept is on sturdiness and error prevention.
Construction site
The construction site workplace is another professional field which could benefit from our concept. This concept consists of a ring that has all the miniaturized sonsors inside and a mobile application which stores and visualizes all the captured values.When attending a project the user takes a photo of the desired location and selects a measurement method from the toolbox. Then he marks the object being measured and uses the ring on his thumb to measure the object. The value is directly send to the app and is visualized next to the marked object on the photo. The focus on this ocassion laid on the approximate measurements of objects which are difficult to access.
