Idea 098 - All that are lost
This post is part of the 100 project ideas project. #The100DayProject. I am looking for feedback. Comment below or DM me via social media Instagram, Twitter.
One Line Pitch
GeoHashing on a pendant for exploring the world
Description
A small pendant maybe 1-1.5 inches across with a LCD in the center. Covered in resin, should look ornate and very pretty. Maybe use one of the round LCDs
The LCD has a compass image on it with an arrow that is pointing in a direction. The device has a GPS built in to help with the direction, and get the current time/date and location.
Each morning the pendant updates with a new GPS location, and the compass points to that new GPS location. An arrow and the distance away. The user can’t see the destination coordinate, just the direction that they must go.
These devices are given out at a festival like burning man. They are pre programmed with a series of locations based on times and dates during the festival. These locations are meeting places for like minded people to meet up. At burning man they might be some amazing theme camp or event or stage when a good DJ is at.
After the festival, or when the device doesn’t have a pre programmed location. The device detects the current location and uses it as the current grid (close by, less than 3 hours). Then it hashes the current date and uses this value as a look up in a database of locations from Atlas Obscura and sets that as the destination. This allows the device to send people to interesting locations when they get home from the festival.
If there are no database locations in the users grid (close by) then it defaults to random locations similar to GeoHashing or XKCD #426. Still has a location, just not an interesting location.
Then after the festival a user can use these devices to meet up with people that also went to the same festival. Like minded people. Give people who want to explore around them an arbitrary destination.
The device could then be programmed with a yearly meetup location (May 4th). Where all devices are directed to a specific location within their local grids.
Gamification If the users reach their destination, they gain a point. The device shows a QR code that users can take a photo of to prove that they successfully reached the destination. The QR code is a URL that links them to a website with a “wall” style comments page where they can leave a comment, or upload a photo as proof they were there. Kind of like GEOCaching only better.
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