Wave Pillow
The Wave Pillow allows people to feel waves via vibrations emitted from a pillow. Inventor Elmar Trefz says the hardest part of surfing is getting up very early to check if the waves are good. Without leaving the comfort of your bed, the wave pillow vibrates to let you know how good the waves are. If the waves are high, the device vibrates strongly. If they are low, the pillow vibrates at a lower level. Wind direction is crucial for wave quality, and the pillow will only vibrate if wind direction is good. If wind direction is bad, the pillow will not vibrate at all.
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Using the Flash software program, data is grabbed from a global weather website and received by another software program called Max/MSP. Information obtained via the global weather website is then used by Max/MSP to control the Wave Pillow motor. The motor's speed is controlled from an outside circuit that receives the data from the computer it is plugged into. |
Frequency of surf waves can also be simulated through the device. Longer, regular intervals between vibrations indicate that surf is good, while faster irregular intervals represent low frequencies. To activate the device, the computer terminal must be on and the surfer need only put their head on the pillow for vibrations to commence.
Watch a demonstration of the wave pillow (Requires RealPlayer)
Contact the inventor or check the site:
Elmar Trefz
info@wavepillow.com
www.wavepillow.com
The ABC TV New Inventors web site