It’s certainly an intriguing concept; a vibrating belt that signals which direction you need to take on your cycle to work, meaning you spend less time looking at your phone, and more time concentrating on the road. It’s a satnav for your waist that ultimately makes cycling that little bit safer.

Developed at the Intelligent Systems Lab at the University of Amsterdam by  Haska Stelenpohl, early tests have already been encouraging. The belt has been designed to give directional nudges indicating left, right,  backwards and forwards turns, and even tickles the user with coded buzzes to signify how long is left on the journey.   Comparing the vibrotactile navigation system with a standard GPS map on  a handlebar-mounted smartphone, results showed the belt increases the amount of time spent looking at  the road.

Whilst more rigorous testing will need to be carried out before production, these  observations are undoubtedly important. Anything that increases the road safety  of cyclists in an increasingly ‘green-focused’ world is a bonus, but the technology  could also aid deaf drivers following a GPS route.