SpiderSense is a UIC prototype wearable suit that enables users to sense (without seeing) obstacles around them. Like the comic book character Spider-Man whose skin tingles at approaching danger, SpiderSense augments human ability - it can potentially help a visually impaired person or a first responder navigate their environments.

SpiderSense is garnering a lot of publicity from the media since the research paper “Sensing the environment through SpiderSense” was presented by Victor Mateevitsi, a PhD candidate in the UIC Computer Science Department and a Research Assistant in the UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), at the 4th Augmented Human International Conference in Stuttgart, Germany, held in March 2013. The paper was co-authored by Mateevitsi, Brad Haggadone (UIC Communications), Jason Leigh and Robert Kenyon (UIC Computer Science, Electronic Visualization Laboratory), and Brian Kunzer (UIC Bioengineering, Neural Engineering Vision Laboratory).

In February 2013, we reported that several media outlets did stories about SpiderSense. Since then, the list continues to grow, from the sublime (see Discovery Channel Canada) to the absurd (see popCultured). Most recently, SpiderSense is featured in the April 9, 2013 issue of UIC NEWS With student invention, not seeing is believing, by Matt O’Connor, April 9, 2013.

A list of publications in which SpiderSense has been featured to date can be found at the end of the article Spidey-sense suit tingles when someone gets too close.

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