This bike navigation app works without map but with sounds
A start-up has developed an app that lets users navigate by following sounds instead of looking at a map or listening to route guidance. Sounds play a major role in the waveOut app. The app is useful for cyclists and pedestrians.
waveOut navigation app
June 3rd is United Nations World Bicycle Day and then the start-up Dreamwaves will launch its special waveOut navigation app. waveOut is a free app that works with 3D sound technology and also uses augmented reality. We explain.
In waveOut you first plan a route as you would in other navigation apps. Then make sure you take your phone with you. You hold it in your hand or around your neck, or it gets a place in the holder on the handlebars of your bicycle. With your phone’s GPS, camera and augmented reality technology, waveOut knows exactly where you are and which direction you’re headed. Then you hear sounds through a headset, exactly in the direction you have to go. This happens a few seconds before a turn so that you have time with the bike to safely take your turn. If you keep following these sounds, you’ll get to your destination in no time.
For now, for cyclists, the phone needs to be attached to the handlebars and tilted up slightly, as the phone’s camera needs to see what’s in front of the bike so that the app can guide the user with the correct accuracy. But the Dreamwaves team is already working on a version where cyclists (and everyone else) can keep their phone in their pocket.
Cyclists, travelers, people with disabilities
waveOut aims to appeal to people with a visual impairment, but the app can also be of interest to cyclists and travelers who mainly want to look around instead of following maps. The app is already available for iOS, but an Android app will follow “soon”, according to a press release. Furthermore, the makers also recommend using an open headset and therefore, for example, no over-ear headphones that limit the ambient noise. That way you also stay safe in traffic.
What do you think of the concept of the waveOut app? Does it appeal to you, a navigation app that only guides you with sound? Let us know in the comments.
