Most GPS devices will take you anywhere. Tru Narla’s latest build will take you exactly one place. Whether you’re into smart gadgets or one-off custom builds, this one stands apart.
Narla is a TikTok hardware creator known as MewTru and a former software engineer at both Discord and Square. She has constructed a handheld compass that ignores every destination on Earth except the nearest Taco Bell, built as a custom gift for her fiancé, whose devotion to the chain apparently warranted custom firmware.
The Build
An ESP32 microcontroller, a soldered magnetometer, and live GPS combine to make the most single-minded navigation device ever assembled.
Inside the enclosure sits an ESP32 microcontroller (a common hobbyist board with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in), a Waveshare touchscreen display, and a magnetometer Narla soldered on herself to give the device its sense of direction. Live GPS coordinates stream in continuously, so the compass calculates heading and walking distance in real time, needle pointed straight at gorditas. Fans of travel tech gadgets will appreciate the ingenuity packed into such a focused form factor.
“I’m making a compass to point my fiancé to his one true love… @tacobell.” , Tru Narla (MewTru)
Narla’s planned final version adds a 3D-printed case, an internal battery, and a small speaker. That speaker has one cue loaded: Taco Bell’s signature bell chime, triggered automatically when you reach the front doors.
The Philosophy (and the Jank)
Sterile gray rectangles are exactly what Narla is building against, one whimsical gadget at a time.
This compass is not a quirk. It’s a position statement.
Narla told Gizmodo her broader project pushes back against the sterile, gray minimalism of modern consumer electronics. Her goal is to revive the colorful, tactile spirit of mid-2000s handhelds: think vintage Nintendo DS energy, but running custom firmware and pointing you toward a Chalupa. Those curious about the lineage of this retro-handheld philosophy may enjoy a look at Disco-Era Gadgets that helped shape today’s tech. Her portfolio also includes a flower-shaped retro digital camera and a Magic 8-Ball hairclip, all built on the same principle that technology is allowed to exist purely for joy.
The prototype, by her own admission, is still a work in progress. Calibration requires the user to manually align the needle north on startup. That quirk would not survive a consumer review, but it fits perfectly for a one-of-a-kind gift.
“It is just a little janky, so gonna try to fix that, and I also kinda wanna take this on the road and see if it actually leads me to the Taco Bell.” , Tru Narla (MewTru)
Outside of Taco Bell’s roughly 8,000 U.S. locations, this device is completely useless. That’s entirely the point. Sometimes technology just needs to point you toward a Crunchwrap Supreme and ring a little bell when you arrive.
