# compossible umwelten proliferating sense organs | perception, communication, interaction | engineering qualia

image: Instinct and reason: deduced from electro-biology | by Alfred Smee, published 1850 https://archive.org/details/b29302663/

Our brains settle into the world by way of nerves. Stacks of layers enable this settling sensible and understandable. Compossible Umwelten participates in open ecosystems around these stacks exploring perception, communication and interaction. * 2022 Proof of concept initiated * 2021 Development initiated * 2020 Research initiated * 2017 Company incorporated {% code overflow="wrap" %} ``` Compossible Umwelten Private Limited 703 Dalamal House, 206 Nariman Point, Mumbai MH 400 021, India ``` {% endcode %} # things products, project squid ![image: René Magritte 1936 https://www.wikiart.org/en/rene-magritte/philosopher-s-lamp-1936](/files/6mQojopEYmfjx5kexmEG) General purpose, single directional, interfaces for our ears and eyes may be non-invasive (speakers, screens), minimally invasive (cochlear, retinal implants) or invasive (brain implants). Initially, we’re cultivating use agnostic (general purpose), non-invasive, bi-directional interfaces which piggy back off our skin. Our initial things together may be ~~seen as~~ a sense organ which co-opts a patch of skin into a *peripheral nerve interface.* # physical it, hardware, material stuff, embodiments, project bobtail

an early sketch of our first exoskeleton (a band of linked modules, which ↔ collapses into a helix / hand grasped sceptre when coiled in one direction and ↔ forms a loop / neck worn choker when flexed in the other direction)
image: Compossible Umwelten 2021

our initial 3 products will be an interface, a platform and a module (which will be built on top of three different boards)
image: Compossible Umwelten 2022

Our initial three products are: * **Neck | Hand Interface.** A mass market consumer product. * **Wearable platform.** Niche market, for hardware developers working on wired arrays with wireless connectivity. * **Neuro-tactile module.** Niche market, for laboratories researching haptics or bio-potentials. Some details about these three follow. ## exoskeletons We incorporate our neuro-tactile module (ref. subsystems below) into our wearable platform (ref. subsystems below) to produce several different macro forms. Community members may make their own forms. Initially we'll work on a helical form and at a later stage we'll release some others. ### neck | hand interface A band which forms either either a neck worn choker (wearable) or a hand held sceptre (graspable), as in the image at the top of this page. Each segment in the array has a module in it. This will likely be our first shelf ready device. ### later forms #### ribbon Wrappable. Two variable length module arrays. Similar to the helix but with more flexible macro movement. May be installed on a handle of some kind. e.g. on a walking stick, an umbrella, an oar, a racquet, bow or the like. #### pair Strappable. Two modules placed \~5 cm apart (like dumbbells). May be strapped to various locations. We expect this to be a quick way for graduate students to get their experiments up and running. #### grid A tabletop pad on which one may place one's hand. ## subsystems We're developing two subsystems which we integrate to form various exoskeletons. These subsystems may be of interest to hobbyists, researchers, developers and hardware tinkerers ### wearable platform (wireless array) Many of the devices we wear / carry around with us contain a hardware unit confined to a single space. Our wearable platform has a central 'crest board' (ref. below) with a battery and wireless connectivity and is physically wired to long arrays of 'edge boards' (ref. below). Several different devices may be built on top of this. #### edge board Built around an RP2040 ( ) connected via a buck. Uses I2C as an address and control bus, disconnect-able SPI and UART buses for data and a disconnect-able USB bus to update the firmware of each board separately. They may be daisy chained to form a common bus with relatively few wires across boards. #### crest board A HAT / base which mates with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 ( ); has a battery management system, peripherals and is intended to work with two arrays of Edge Boards. ### neuro-tactile module It incorporates an eXg-haptic board (ref. below) and edge board (ref. above) into a single unit. May be of interest to laboratories conducting haptic and bio-potential experiments. #### eXg-haptic board A (1) bioelectric sensor (capacitive, dry, single electrode ExG) (2) a piezo unit functioning as a vibro-tactile (haptic) stimulator / actuator and vibration sensor and (3) an external temperature sensor, with an (4) optional IMU, an (5) optional LRA and an (6) optional LED. ## # digital bit, software, immaterial stuff, project fisherai

## driver A maintenance / companion app (accessed through a screen) to update the physical device’s (Bobtail’s) settings and modes. ## modes Developers may periodically add to the available modes which Bobtail may be set to. ### language Tailored tactile text. A font personalised using bioelectric signals so it works like an easy to learn high throughput phoneme based braille. May absorb tactile books (just as one does audio books). Unproven, speculative. ### music, audio Paired with speakers controlled by a tactile jockey (standing alongside an audio jockey). May pick up and render ambient sounds or by placed in-line with speakers to augment an auditory experience. Users may make their own audio-to-tactile transformations by uploading their own codecs (a trivial one may be to play low frequencies). Unproven, speculative. ### affective Two humans or non-humans wear Bobtail and the sensor readings of one are played on the other bringing them in harmony. Unproven, speculative. May also send predefined tactile emojis. ### situational May provide non-music clues when watching movies (e.g. doors shutting, texture of the road), playing video games (e.g. engines knocking, the breeze against one's neck), using a map (e.g. nudging someone so they take a turn) or other apps (similar to how an phone application may make use of audio cues). ### speech May address stuttering / stammering, speech tremors and act in lieu of an electrolarynx. Unproven, speculative. # protocol rill, encoding, formats, flowing stuff, project luxOperon ![image: Skin and Mechanoreceptor Contribution to Tactile Input for Perception: A Review of Simulation Models by Davide Deflorio, Massimiliano Di Luca and Alan M. Wing | 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.862344](/files/LbfNy3AMvZRXQabSvlO5) ![image: A1 V 92dB SNDR 10 kHz Bandwidth Second-Order Asynchronous Delta-Sigma Modulator for Biomedical Signal Processing by Vilém Kledrowetz \* , Lukáš Fujcik , Roman Prokop and Jiˇrí Háze | 2020 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20154137](/files/6z3IillcoRzKDhOiHT9x) ## physiological ### tactile protocol Touch may be ~~seen as~~ a blend of signals spread through space (as is primarily the case with vision) and through time (as is primarily the case with hearing). We hope to make our tactile rendering engine (and haptic waveforms / compositions / descriptions) compatible with the industry standards still being developed. ### neural protocol Unproven, aspirational gobbledygook. We hope to 'close the loop' by using our bioelectric sensors as a brain machine interface (BMI / BCI). We hope the protocols developed may be general enough to carry on to other modalities (e.g. used in cochlear implants and brain implants). This may allow one to make, at whim, sense organs. ## social We're looking for a model which allows end users to retain ownership over their data and designers over their explorations. Perhaps a crypto token backbone which allows for reducing micropayments in both cases (with manufacturers / network providers providing a bridge). All yet ill conceived. # tooling incidentals, side projects ![Image: https://xkcd.com/2347/](/files/5jbITjhyTMY4wJN9Cli0) We expect to cobble together several things which don't leave the shop floor / laboratory bench. We hope to document these well enough to blur the distinction between internal and external views. ## Vibration sensor, camera based ## Vibration sensor, FSR based # approach Growing, groping towards transparent ethical, elegant, fun, friendly, inclusive, indulgent. ![image: Takaosan Interchange https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Takaosan\_interchange.jpg](/files/GRTnPxYO8X4Cj4DXpE30) We hope to identity, measure and highlight some of the ripples we leave. In particular formulate a tears index. # fine print Growing, groping towards transparent ethical, elegant, fun, friendly, inclusive, indulgent. ![Image source: Seated Figure of Summer, by Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1573, https://www.wikiart.org/en/giuseppe-arcimboldo/seated-figure-of-summer-1573](/files/GjRcPnuDXnOCS4tZPdjO) ## immaterial (intellectual?) property ### software We’d like to free close to all our code so it may be adopted in other scenarios. A tenable path is pending. ### designs We’d like to open our hardware schematics, PCB layouts, mechanical drawings and the like so others can build on and create similar things. A tenable path is pending. ### data We’d like data generators to retain ownership over their data in a manner which allows them to loan but not sell data. ## material objects We'd like our things to be convenient to manufacture (not require expensive equipment or craftsperson skill), convenient to maintain (minimise consumables) so they're robust and age gracefully like family heirlooms (monsoon proof, sandstorm proof), convenient to repair (commonly available parts, modular, documented, repairable by the local cobbler), be friendly and transparent to those who are curious to look over the covers (minimise goop / resin, accessible using standard tools with reversible assembly) and to hobbyists. We hope to layout our relationship with landfills, smokestacks and rubble so choices may be more informed. ## exchange We'd like to exist in an advertising-free model. Where consent is informed. Still looking for a tenable crypto backed model. # communities Growing, groping towards transparent ethical, elegant, fun, friendly, inclusive, indulgent. ![Image source: http://www.daninolab.nyc/microuniverse](/files/EvHNvkcZjAPyAU0skdvi) ## colleagues ### collaborators, internal We’d like our teams to be inclusive and diverse.

current

* [Ishan Shah

](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishan-shah-64b72b11a/) * [Trivik R. Bhavnani

](https://www.linkedin.com/in/trivik-bhavnani/)

~~desperately~~ seeking

**Firmware Engineer** *Us:* Compossible Umwelten Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2017. We’re currently working on unproven devices to non-invasively interface with human and dog brains through haptic means. *You:* Other than being conscientious and having a sense of what elegant and maintainable code is we hope you’ll have done some of the following: * Developed firmware and systems using (1) C / C++, (2) an RTOS preferably Zephyr (3) the RP2040 (4) Raspberry Pi’s Compute Module 4 (5) Wi-Fi and BLE stacks (6) I2C, SPI, UART and USB buses. * Have gone through prototype to production firmware cycle for a product with version control systems, project management tools and documentation. * Contributed to open-source projects and have geeked out over signal processing. *What:* You’d be building our codebase (and corresponding documentation) from the ground up and contributing to / reviewing our hardware. As the initial seed you’d be creating your own structure. *Where:* You’ll be seated at our Nariman Point (Bombay) office along with a hardware and mechanical engineer. Should we still exist in 2023 we expect to add application engineers. While we hope to have a few billion users at no point do we expect to become a large company.

{% file src="/files/2tFkwRjABkVP5ZFIwJlq" %} we're happy to be flexible, just our current {% endfile %} ### collaborators, external It's a privilege to have opportunities to engage with suppliers and consultants whom allow us to be.

current

* [Jesal Mehta](https://www.jesalmehta.com/) * [Naomi Rohilla](https://www.pneume.in/)

### craftspeople Shop floor conditions (safety, remuneration, skilling, time...) is something we play close attention to. Direct and indirect. ## clusters ### hardware tinkerers * mechanics (maintenance) * hobbyists (users) * researchers (academics) * developers ### developers (of application software | modes) ### content creators (studios) ## consumers (end users) ## investors (cryptoTokens) # archive proliferating sense organs | perception, communication, interaction | engineering qualia ![old logo (2017 - 2022)](/files/kuERFEM1rnC7MeVeaiRV) ## blueprints [Blog](https://musings.umwelten.xyz/)