It looks weird and functions peculiarly too. But a helmet shaped like that of a bicycle and looks more like a robotic crab is grabbing eyeballs. The Japanese gadget when worn, pulls your right ear when you should move right and left ear when you must move left.

In effect, it shows you direction without you having to see. Call it an external instinct that works for you! At the moment, its uncanny appearance and utility looks a little odd for lay people like us. But then the gadget has an immense potential to become the navigation device for those who cannot see – the sight impaired.

The ear navigator is called Pull-Navi. It has six helmet-mounted motors to pull the wearer’s ears forward, backward, left, right, up and down, in the respective directions that is. Designers of Pull Navi say users can follow its lead nearly at the instinct level. They can move forward, backward, speed up or even slow down, when they move. It is a finely tuned helmet. Connect the thing to a GPS, and the blind in sight would not have to be at the mercy of helping hands or their walking sticks.

Via: Engadget, Kaji-lab