We once tuned into morning radio or the early television news to catch the weather forecast for the day and dress accordingly. These days the forecast is omnipresent, available in web browsers and on smartphone home screens, but the presentation of that information hasn't advanced much at all. It's still just a number that does little to convey what that temperature feels like. The Cryoscope Haptic Weathervane, an Arduino-based thermometer, attempts to do the opposite. Weather isn't conveyed as a number--it's conveyed as a temperature.
The Haptic Weathervane heats an aluminum cube body to the day's forecast so you can feel what the weather's like by reaching out and touching the surface.
There's a big difference between touching a metal surface and experiencing the temperature of the air as it makes contact with your skin. Heating the cube to the exact temperature outside wouldn't work. Creator Robb Godshaw designed the cube to heat to a neutral temperature (85F) that's warmer than "room temperature" (73F), compensating for the innate coolness of metal. From that baseline the Cryoscope adjusts to convey the perceived temperature of the forecast.
The Cryoscope is just a prototype, but commercialization is being "seriously considered."