StrapMaps: Bringing Map-based Navigation to the Straps of Bags

Abstract

Most outdoor activities and outdoor sports include a navigation component. For example, hiking, biking, mountaineering and climbing activities require orientation and wayfinding at certain points to certain degrees. With the rise of personal GPS devices, numerous navigation apps now exist that are tailored to the specific needs of outdoor enthusiasts. Nevertheless, they all have the common problem, that they require the users to “store” the mobile device in their pockets to have the “hands free” for interaction. While wearable devices such as smartwatches overcome this problem, they have the disadvantage that they often offer very small screen space. In this paper we present StrapMaps, a concept to bring interactive e-ink displays to straps of backpacks or harnesses to present map information while on-the-go in nature.