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Dutch soldiers are being kitted out with a belt that allows them to sense the location of waypoints, providing intuitive, hands-free directions.

Haptic navigation tools, which guide the wearer through vibration, have been researched as a possible aid for people with visual impairments, but are also of interest to the military. A firm called Elitac Wearables in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has delivered the first real product, selling 20 of its Mission Navigation Belts to the Royal Netherlands Army this month for an undisclosed price.

Existing navigational aids require soldiers to look down at screens or listen to audio instructions. Both have disadvantages: soldiers need to scan their surroundings at all times and light from a screen may betray their position, while verbal instructions can interfere with other communications and get drowned out by background noise.

The belt connects to the soldiers鈥� existing smart vests, which are fitted with a radio, GPS and battery.聽 Seven 鈥渢actors鈥�, or vibrational motors, placed around the belt continuously indicate the direction to the next waypoint, with the location of the vibration changing as the wearer turns.

Martijn van der Leeden at Elitac鈥檚 partner company Teijin says the belt could later provide additional signals, such as warning of dangerous areas or transmitting covert communications through Morse code, but it is initially being rolled out as a navigational aid.

Soldiers tested the belts in land and water vehicles and on foot, navigating continuously between modes of travel. The haptic signals were clear even when running or traversing rough terrain.

鈥淚t has proved its value convincingly during field tests,鈥� says Van Veen, a major in the Royal Netherlands Army who was involved in the testing. 鈥淪oldiers reported that they were more aware of their surroundings and found the navigational cues very intuitive.鈥�

The belt could pave the way for other applications, says van der Leeden, such as assisting those with visual impairments and providing hands-free navigation for hikers, runners and cyclists, but Elitac currently has no immediate plans for a consumer version.