ORAVELTA
Oravelta / Sense
Oravelta Sense / Experiential systems

A new way
to feel information.

Direction is the beginning. Sense explores how information can become a familiar pattern on the body—and a new way to notice what matters.

Hardware prototypeWhy we’re building it
01 The idea

A relationship.
A pattern.
A response.

A direction, a passing interval, a changing measurement: each is a relationship that can be translated into a signal. Sense turns selected information into repeatable tactile patterns that a wearer can learn.

The architecture is simple: sense an input → translate it → feel a pattern → learn and respond. The interesting work is in the mapping. Which cue is distinguishable? What becomes familiar with practice? When does information help without demanding attention?

We are investigating a wearable platform that makes those mappings adaptable. Its value comes from how well a person can use the information during everyday activity.

Path / Try the relationship

You turn.
The cue changes.

Move the heading control. The target stays north while the highlighted position shows which of four motors would cue that direction relative to your body.

Four positions give a simple first mapping: front, right, back, and left. This is the logic we are developing into a physical experience.

Path / signal studyInteractive concept
0° heading · Front cue

A visual model of the mapping. Target: north.
This demonstration does not connect to hardware.

02 The first prototype

Path.
Direction through touch.

Path begins with four vibration motors and an Arduino Nano ESP32 controller. GPS supplies position information; heading sensing is being integrated so the system can relate a target direction to the direction the wearer faces.

Motor control and GPS readings have been tested. The next milestone is bringing the direction loop together, mounting the wearable, and testing it outdoors. Complete navigation and everyday usefulness remain the work of this prototype.

Testing will focus on practical questions: are cues easy to tell apart? Does the mounting remain comfortable? How quickly can someone interpret a change? Does the signal help while walking, without becoming distracting?

Imagine this

You are walking toward a chosen destination. A cue on your right indicates the target lies that way. As you turn toward it, the signal shifts toward the front. The direction stays connected to how you are moving.

03 Open code

A platform
others can extend.

Our direction for Sense is open code: software people can inspect, learn from, modify, and build upon. We want its usefulness to grow through the people who work with it.

A maker could connect a different sensor. A researcher could compare tactile mappings. A runner could create a pacing cue. A production crew could develop a shared set of quiet signals.

Useful openness means more than publishing files. It means explaining inputs, mappings, and outputs; documenting hardware connections; and making experiments understandable enough to adapt. A public release has not launched yet. The first release will define its scope and license alongside the code.

The most useful application may be one we haven’t imagined.

04 / The horizon

What else could you feel?

These are the next research directions for Sense. Each applies the same architecture to a different relationship.

TIME

Feel the rhythm of the day.

Gentle patterns mark intervals, transitions, or progress through a focus session. Time becomes something you can notice while remaining engaged with what you are doing.

AIR

Notice a changing environment.

Translate changes from an air-quality sensor into distinct cues, making an otherwise unseen measurement available through touch.

BASELINE

A closer connection to your signals.

Map selected body measurements or running pace into tactile feedback. Use the pattern as a prompt to check in and interpret the measurement in context.

LINK

A quiet language between people.

Agreed codes let wearers communicate “ready,” “your turn,” or another simple signal. Explore discreet coordination for stage crews, events, and public speaking.

PATTERN BREAK

A moment to choose again.

An optional tap interrupts habitual scrolling or another automatic routine, creating a moment to notice your surroundings and what you intended to do next.

SOUND & RHYTHM

Another way to notice a voice.

Translate selected features of sound—cadence, rhythm, pitch, or intensity—into touch. Investigate which patterns are useful, learnable, and expressive.

Air and body-signal applications are research concepts, not validated safety alarms or medical tools.

05 Our greater purpose

Why we’re
building Sense.

Useful information can be present without being easy to notice. A person’s attention may already be occupied by a conversation, a task, or the environment around them. We are building Sense to explore other ways for that information to become perceptible.

Sense begins within Orientation Assistance by expanding how a relationship can be noticed and learned. It also belongs to Inventing New Possibilities: developing forms of experience that do not yet meaningfully exist as part of ordinary life.

The open-code direction carries that purpose further. People should be able to adapt a capability to the relationships that matter in their own lives, including applications that grow beyond Oravelta’s original designs.

How this connects to Oravelta’s vision

Keep exploring.

The wider Oravelta vision