Point to Discover Hardware

Already, there are first consumer mobile phones available on the market that feature some of the components necessary to realize the vision of Point to Discover, such as GPS and compass. To date, however, no single device is available that combines all three of the required sensor types that will make P2D a reality: GPS, compass and tilt-sensors. Therefore, custom device prototypes have been developed in the project.

GPS/Orientation Sensor Prototype

The P2D sensor board is a standalone Bluetooth "accessory" that combines a (DGPS-capable) GPS receiver module with a digital compass and 3-axis accelerometer-based tilt sensors. Necessary computations, as well as the task of combining the individual sensor measurements to a serial data stream are managed by a small, on-board ARM microprocessor.

Predecessor Versions

A first predecessor of the p2d sensor hardware was produced in May 2005, within the scope of the Creative Histories Project, based on a plain, Java-enabled mass-market mobile phone.

The prototype had a custom-built shell attached to its back, housing a 2-axis tilt/compass module purchased from a commercial vendor. A number of demonstrator applications were developed for the prototype, for example the tilt-controlled Gravity Maze game (see photo), where the player has to direct a ball through a maze without dropping it into one of the holes in the maze floor.

A second, Bluetooth-enabled version of the same setup was produced, along with a custom snap-on shell for a mass-market mobile phone. This setup was used in concjunction with an ordinary Bluetooth GPS unit for the first P2D inner-city function trials.