Touch-based 'weathervane' conveys the outside temperature

There's only so much a temperature reading can do for you. "I was thinking about ways information about weather is conveyed. I found myself disappointed in systems that rely on numbers, which have little to do with how humans perceive hot and cold. I sought to develop a device that conveyed the forecast in a manner which left nothing to the imagination," Robb Godshaw, an industrial design student at R.I.T., told SmartPlanet about his invention that transmits the outside temperature through touch.

Called the Cryoscope Haptic Weathervane, the device is a small aluminum cube that contains a Peltier element, heat sink, cooling fan and a microcontroller. The microcontroller determines the outside temperature through a Web-based program, via a Wifly module, and to set the location, the user keys in her zip code into a Web-based program.

Godshaw says his design was influence by the Ambient Orb, a glass ball that can be set to change color based on the stock market or the weather.  By conveying temperature in a tactile manner, he says the Cryoscope Haptic Weathrvane removes the burden of trying to make sense of the temperature numbers or colors conveyed in most weather forecasts.

As for the likelihood that his invention will turn into a real product, Godshaw says "the prospect is being seriously considered."

Via: Core77

Images: Courtesy Robb Godshaw

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com