May 29 2008 DIY: Make Your Own Ultrasonic Batgoggles

Ever wanted to be a bat boy? Me too, but the local minor league team said I couldn't because of my club foot. So I'm going to have to settle for making my own ultrasonic batgoggles (not to be confused with lobster-vision).

What you see above is a homegrown device that enables humans to discover how bats must feel when using echolocation in order to judge how far away certain objects are. The main components are an Arduino microcontroller clone, Devantech ultrasonic sensor and a set of welding goggles.

Basically you can't see anything because of the welding goggles and the ultrasonic sensor controls audio feedback to let you know how far away something in your line of sight is (fast beeps for something close, slower for further away).

Awesome, I just built a pair and am about to give them a go. Oh wait:

Please do not wear these in hazardous environments or in traffic! These goggles are for educational purposes only and meant for controlled environments since they are intended to block your peripheral vision and regular vision so you are more reliant on auditory cues.

Ha, there's never any traffic on my street -- time to take these suckers for a spin in my girlfriend's car!

UPDATE: In retrospect they would have worked better had I busted out the windshield. Seriously though, I think a Buick is just what the neighbor's kitchen needed.

Video of the goggles in action and a link to the instructables page, after the jump.

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Mar 24 2008 Grandma, You Old Bat, I Said "YOU LOOK FREAKING RIDICULOUS WEARING THOSE"

Batphones were designed by Matthias Ries to help the hard of hearing look funny. They're basically a pair of shaped plastic cups you wear like headphones. I got a pair for my grandma and she loves them. ISN'T THAT RIGHT GRANDMA? I SAID "ISN'T THAT RIGHT?" Damn she still can't hear for shit. Oh, it looks like she dozed off. And is drooling. On my couch. Awesome.

Grandma for sale. Free grandma. Goes by Beatrice. Old exterior, but young at heart. Runs great but may leak fluids on your expensive furniture. Cooks, but not that well and often forgets the stove is on. May present a fire hazard.

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