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Wearable Computers
ucribido writes "Here is an interesting story regarding wearable computers and other communication accessories utilizing technology developed by Martin Cooper, who is regarded as the "father" of the portable cell phone. The fashion show was sponsored by Charmed Technology which is a spin off of MIT's Media Lab. Check out the hot "geek" chics sporting the latest in info-gagetry. Apparently, the CEO of charmed regards his company as the answer to Bill Joy's warning that technology will soon wipe out mankind if not kept in check. Find out for yourself."
then you'll have to have a thing on oprah. 1 gigahertz accessories for 486 prices. And of course, there'll be some cross dressers out in california who wear windows, mac ANDlinux. The freaks. It'll lead to a whole new world of fashion faux pas. "excuse me sir, but your source is open" Dang it. I really have to go but my zipper just locked up... Of course, the company best positioned to take advantage of this whole trend is Red Hat...
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It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Then again, I can't wait to go around looking like this :)
The third is the weakest argument for calling it a different OS, but it is probably the one that applies. As long as they don't violate the GPL, I don't have a problem with them make the marketting decision of OS vs. distro whichever way makes them happy.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
One project that comes to my mind is the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales's 'Pleb' project. About the length of two Australian fifty cent coins lined up next to each other, it contains a StrongARM processor and can use a number of different kernels and OSes, but most importantly Linux. I was recently lucky enough to see a demonstration of the system where a stripped down version of Debian GNU/Linux being booted off it at the university's last open day.
The main goal of Pleb is produce a "Flexible, Low-Power system for use in Portable and Embedded applications which is capable of a high level of processing power." However, more impressive is that the project's guidelines even states:
Pleb's different foundation does much to boost this project's credibility as a viable competitor to Charmed. Charmed appears to be more focused on becoming the next easy-to-use consumer toy for those on the richer side of the digital divide. Pleb on the other hand has the potential to become a more widely supported and of course, open-source wearable computing platform, and hopefully if it does become a commercial enterprise be much more affordable for people in all societies.
MashPotato - Mobile Array of Support Helpers for Potato
-- "I can't tell the future, I just work there." -- The Doctor
Not to mention the bad grammer, lack of punctuation and just general crappiness of flash. Sigh.
Imagine a cool computer that strapped comfortably to your wrist that you looked at to tell where the sun was in the sky... you could call it a watch. Imagine an incredible device that could be implanted directly into your heart to regulate its beating... you could call it a pacemaker. Imagine a wafer thin piece of plastic that you place *directly* on your eye and which renders your vision robot-accurate... you could call it a contact lens. Imagine a highly sensitive yet covert listening device you could wear all the time... maybe call it a hearing aid? We're all cyborgs, and have been for some time now. What's all the fuss about?
Put the blame on meme
Check out some recent sections in the Fashion sections of the New York Times, Vanity Fair, etc.
Basically, we need pocketses and places for our doodads, especially in ways that we can show off.
It was inevitable.
Will in Seattle
Why shouldn't it? Perhaps if technology were to remove the human "middle-man", something might actually get done around here. Besides, my workstations and servers have never asked for a couple weeks off to go snowboarding.
Speak truth to power.
I think I dated the Geek Chic on the cover of their webpage... oh, no wait... now I remember... she laughed in my face before hopping into her Porsche and taking off.
Yeah....I bet you are.
The thing that scares me is how a while ago in Taos new mexico lots of people were hearing a noise that wasn't detectable by an occiliscope.
For a while this was attributed to the ELF submarine communication station in the area, but I think they ruled that out. A decent but out of date article on this topic can be found here if you're interested.
Why the hell would you want to wear a computer?
Symphonix recently received FDA approval for their Vibrant Soundbridge ear implant. It has better sound than a hearing-aid and is less visible.
from the site:
And here's highlights from a recent report from The Gray Sheet:
Any chance we might see this? You know, "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down?". Does anyone know of a kit that will put a rounded "Weeble" bottom on your computer? I keep knocking mine over and this would be a great help.
you have to be kidding, right?--you do know what you are talking about?--that's right I didn't think you did!--the kernel is the operating system!--put just the kernel on a disk, and it boots, and takes care of all that important operating system stuff--redhat is a set of tools that is being provided to you preconfigured, with the operating sytem!
Slackware: old school feel, new school gear.
...as long aa I don't have to hack my girlfriend's pants... "oooh baby... ooh yeahh..... NOOOOOO!!! 128-bit encyption!!!!!"
Hmm. I can imagine.
"I've been trying to get into this girl's pants all night"
" Don't bother. She's closed source. "
... and for those people obsessed with making xerox copies of their butt using the company copier, we have these special shorts. Fax machine already installed. Linux. Bringing the world to your drawers.
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It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
"I couldn't negotiate a socks connection."
--
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
Steve Mann is the father of Wearable computing.
www.wearcomp.org for those of you that don't already know this.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Wearable computer "fashion" is all well and good, but none of it matters till LCD glasses (or some other wearable monitor) can provide 1024 x 768 resolution (preferably with 24 bit color minimum). Without that, a wearable computer is little more than a games platform or a PDA - nifty tech, but not really usable as a full-out desktop replacement.
Quotes from A Man for All Seasons
Yeah, I'm sure Bill Gates is working on it.
New windows 2019 is even more user friendly. You've heard of web TV. This handy device relieves the hassle of constantly bickering over programs by forcing you to watch the shows that we want you to.
See that handy red button on the arm rest? every time that you press it, a worker in the DOJ will feel a sharp and intense pain!
Buy now!
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It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
This whole 'fashion' thing with wearable computers, etc... Is just too damn funny.
Who, in their right mind, would wear this crap? If any of this comes to pass; I'll have a few good decades of laughing my ass off.
On the other hand, I'm appalled that Slashdot even covered this story.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
"// this is the most hacked, evil, bastardized thing I've ever seen. kjb"
Troll? Expand your moderation horizons. Explore the delights of "Funny" and "Insightful".
IMHO, people buy small cell phones because they're easier to carry around with you. It's becoming practical/comfortable to carry the really small phones in your pocket.
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I know we all like to hide ourselves away in a little defensive world where beautiful women are, to make up for it, dumb as a brick. Unfortunately I will have to punch a hole in your shielding; many top-models have IQs that are probably higher than your own, just like any typical cross-section of humanity. There's nothing in the "beauty" genes that precludes having some "smart" genes too. No doubt a fair-share of those women really are dumber than bricks, but plenty could probably beat you hands down in any intellectual contest you'd care to name. I'm sorry you've never met any attractive geek chics, but maybe they were just avoiding you...
Actually when a computer fades into the functionality of the appliance, we call it a microprocessor or a microcontroller, depending on the context. Sure, the integrated cell-phone, MP3 player, or whatever shouldn't be called computers. But if it gets to run an OS and lets you install custom software, and has userdefined functionality, then it had better be a computer...
Yeah, and if geeks dont wash (I`ve read Hackers!), isnt the sweat etc going to screw things up pretty badly?
My thoughts exactly! There are "Enhances the browsing experience" Flash sites and "So unbearably fills up your site with pointless animation that most users run away in frustration" Flash sites. The one fell into the latter category. It's too bad, 'cuz with just a few changes (like a "Skip intro" link) this could have been a decent site.
Hope their clothes are a little more practical than their site.
"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!"
on being the first site to stand up to being slashdotted. That and being able to squeeze a ton of stuff into a small flash file, that actually works in Flash for Linux.
The same old "Internet appliance" hype. Everyone already knows this, but... Palm is a success because, as people say, while it does fewer things, it does them very well. That is, it's not needlessly complicated by other "capabilities," which undermine its dependability. All the "visionaries" are trying to sell us on the idea that Internet appliances will do the same. In some cases, I agree... but in others, an Internet connection in itself will needlessly complicate the appliance. The last time I checked, my refrigerator does what it does very well, without needing a net connection (obviously to call the repair man when it's low on freon, which'll cost me $169.00 --> a decision I'd rather make myself)!
Have you ever tried a head-mounted display?
I mean one of the latest: lightweight, small form factor (like glasses), but high res, wide field of view, stereoscopic, head tracking, see through capability?
I can guarantee you that there are some pretty mind blowing things you can do with such a HMD... Things as unimaginable as common people back in the 1970s would have thought mice and GUIs were.
When you have a display that is that lightweight and portable, and you're wearing it (AND it can do incredible things that no monitor can), it's just natural that you'd want the computer to be wearable along with it.
You'll see. Someday when it bites you in the arse.
Slashdot needs to run stories like this... at least they can look past Charmed's fluff.
>from the does-this-monitor-go-with-these-shoes? dept.
Your digest-mode humor sits very well with me today.
Regards, timf.
This is true, just as Einstin was a one trick pony.
the coolest part is that he did this computer research while persuing what he is also great at, photography.
I dont know of many people that can do so much with what they have. Steve gave Thad his start in wearable computing, and it all snowballs from there.
he deserves his credit, just as the man that developed tcp/ip deserves to be called the inventor of the internet.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
At least it uses Linux . . . . . maybe they figured M$ Windows is no longer in fashion!
Quotes from A Man for All Seasons
--trb
Finally I will be fashionable!
Truffle
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I support spreading santorum
I can imagine the new excuses that come with computer clothes....
"Sorry I'm late, someone hacked my pants."
"I would have finished the presentation, but my accessories weren't compatable."
and of course,
"Damn, another Blue Boxers of Death!"
NecroPuppy
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Blame it on Monday, that's what I do.
I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
The technology should be sooo sexy that it'd sell even if _I_ were wearing it. If it's really good technology, then it doesn't matter what it's draped across.
But, geez, pulsating lights that give off perfume? No thanks. And just how the heck does making it look neato take care of the privacy concerns? "No, no, the mauve color alone indicates privacy guard. It's the lavender you have to watch out for."
It talks about:
the brave new unwired world
Shouldn't that be
the brave new underwired world?
When I can buy one from Armani, then, and only then, will wearable info-gadgets have come of age !
The London Weatherman,
20C, Cloudy, Sunny Spells
http://wearcam.org/ this guy has been working on this for over 20 years. you can see the evolution of his gear. pretty funny! (back in the 70s-80s)
Sigh. I guess this is another informal check of who doesn't pay a measly $12/year for Wired magazine. Once again we get a 3-month-old story posted as new...
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Let me give you the lowdown
The shit doesn't belong on /.
:wq
Imagine 20 years from now when rather than having the computer on you, it will be in you. If direct machine-mind interfaces aren't working by then, you can look forward to a thin mask on the inside of the eye for a display, and a small implant inside the ear cannal for sound.
That guy on the corner mumbling to himself isn't really crazy, he's just talking to his accountant.
World Beach List, my latest project.
My pants just suffered a GPF!
Five tons of flax.
Calling it a "computer" means it has been designed poorly. When made correctly, the computer disappears into the functionality of the appliance. Then we call it a notepad, refrigerator, car, communications-jacket, etc.
You all do realize that not a single one of those fasion whores has a clue what it is they are realy wearing, let alone how to use it. Unfortunate as it is most geek chicks aren't that attractive. Ive know only 3 or 4. One was a phone phreak/modle that I met at the first PumpCon, the other some of you may know as she hung out in #2600-efnet. And though all those girls may be hott, I doubt I would be able to stand them if they couldn't hold a decent conversation with me. You can buy sex, you cant buy inteligence.
IceBerg
WWJD? JWRTFM!!!
The most technical data I could find were:
1) It uses Linux
2) "Desktop Backgrounds For Download"
How exciting !!!
I think my mother would like this better than me.
The CEO/founder of Charmed is the woman on the web page. Technically, she is not a "he" and it is not "his", and she did industrial espionage before founding Charmed.
Don't flame me for saying this either. I just happen to have read an interview with her in some mag or another that I no longer have lying around (probably Fortune), and thought that disseminating information was the point of this site.
Matt Gozo
Face it, if these things are hackable, geeks would buy them if Janet Reno was modelling them and they came only in grey plastic.
--
How many people do you know that bought a device based purly on looks?
I tend to spend my OWN money on things like amplifiers, new sets of strings, recording gear, incense & pot, but of the people I know who *DID* go out and buy a cellphone, I'd have to say that if looks weren't the #1 criteria in their decision, it was at least #2.
I don't own a cell or a pager myself. If you are someone I'd want getting ahold of me, you already know my home & work numbers. If I'm not at one of those places, I'm either hanging out with you, or you aren't one of those people.
-The Reverend
-The Reverend (I am not a Nazi nor a Troll)
=(.\')=
``People are afraid technology will turn them into cyborgs and make them lose their privacy and humanity. But the way to prevent the cyborg thing is to make it fashionable,'' she said.
Is this woman blond by any change? I don't think people are afraid to look like The Borg(tm). In fact, I think they are, like myself, afraid to get involved in a nasty accident. Looking with one eye can be very unhandy in traffic. Using the other eye for playing UT can be very distractive. And the result can be very messy. (hmm, on the other hand... live UT effects....).
Crawl out of the geek box for a minute and look at it from other's perspective. Sex sells. Fashion sells. Do you think people buy the latest StarTac or Samsung flip phone because they work better? No, they buy them because they are cool and sexy. Kind of a reverse size envy scenario.
As it is, most of the wearable technology is still too bulky to be acceptable in the mainstream. Until it's so small as to not be noticeable, only the geekest of the chic will be wearing it.
World Beach List, my latest project.
I don't think that these models are geeks. The first one was all trendy looking. I bet these chicks date jocks in the real world, and think that warable PC's suck, but took the job for the $$$. I wouldn't mind waring one though (the computers).
Could the flash on their website be ANY worse? It takes over 3 minutes to just navigate past the intro! Jeez.
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Don't call my crazy, that's what they called me back in the home!
Might as well put this link in there! :-)
Wearcomp
Twenty years ago, if you'd thought to complain about potential side-effects of using a cellular phone, you would've been laughed out of the scientific community. Even today, large segments of the population will laugh at you (perhaps even correctly), but several studies have shown that there is a controversy left to be resolved.
Are we so sure, then, of all the potential side-effects of society-wide deployments of wearables? You might point to the amount of shielding around standard electronics (as compared to a broadcasting antenna), but is that adequate for the protection of human tissue and not just other electronics? Do we really want to find out?
One thing is clear: more CDC and NIH studies must be performed, lest this exciting and important field of computing suffer the same fate as DuPont's silicone breast implants, where the social benefit was arguably smaller (+1 funny for anyone who responds, "But breast implants really improved my social life).
(Thankfully, I don't fear that studies won't be conducted. As we all know, the test is whether the device has anything to do with gonads (as where wearables may be strapped in proximity to). Congress collectively cringes at the thought, and funding quickly follows.)
If they play nice, this could provide some good support for small hardware. I would certainly like to be able to build some personal applications for handheld and wearable devices. I know that I perfer to be able to program any hardware I buy rather than just using the canned software that came with it. I don't always take advantage of that option, but it is a selling point to me.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
for women to come up to me and say "Do you need a heatsink, or are you just happy to see me?"
"pr0n": An anagram of "porn," possibly indicating the use of pornography. - www.microsoft.com
just go to a tech temp agency and you can buy all the intellegence ( or at least tech know how) that you can afford at $50 an hour.
...Just as long as you aren't looking to have sex with the temps or anything, of course.
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It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
This article has some of the most memorable lines I've heard in quite a while:
The fashion show came after a stark warning from one of the leading architects of the Silicon Valley computer revolution that technology was developing so rapidly and with so few checks that it could eventually wipe out humans.
When evil computers come to destroy humanity, who can save us? The army with their flaccid spears? no! The famed pocket protector wearing geeks? no! Fashion? Yes!!!
Inspiration for Tillotson's merging of the science of smell with nanotechnology and fashion came from the coolant systems built into the space suits worn by astronauts on the Apollo space missions in the 1960s, she said.
Man, I guess the 60s are going back in fashion.
``People are afraid technology will turn them into cyborgs and make them lose their privacy and humanity. But the way to prevent the cyborg thing is to make it fashionable,'' she said.
How do we prevent technology from making people lose their privacy and humaity? Fashion! After all, nobody can spy on you if you look just so chic.
Warning: Sarcasm limit exceeded, automatic -10 karma.
I read the internet for the articles.
How useable the thing is is part of how "good" the technology is perceived as being. Linux wasn't taken that seriously until it had a GUI. Now that there's slick graphical widgets, folks are loving it. (I'm even seeing Linux versions of office software in mainstream stores like Best Buy.)
/normal/ sunglasses? Better yet. Shock resistant, splash-resistant? Yes.
It's also part of the cool factor. When they stopped making VHS VCRs look like Soviet Space Program cast-offs, sales went up. When mobile phones got small enough to be, well, mobile, sales went up. Sexy, to me, doesn't have anything to do with sex.
In my lexicon, sexy is how well implimented the whole thing is. How much an integral part of my life will this product be? Flashing lights? Baah! Perfume spewing computers? Baah. Pager sized, hey, that's a start. 20 hour battery life? Good start. A visual display that looks like
It should all be so sexy, so cool, that I can walk into a meeting of 50-something, golf-playing, cigarette-stale-breath MBAs, and they'll all say, "Wow. Where can I buy one?"
the slashdot bunch
cute-teen-natalie is walking through the yard, carrying her school-books. teen-osm and six-year-old-osm are playing catch with a football. 6-year-old-osm misses the ball and it heads for cute-teen-natalie.
teen-osm: cute-teen-natalie, look out!
it is too late, the ball hits cute-teen-natalie in the head, knocking her hair loose, such that it flows elegantly down her back. she begins to weep and runs inside, the boys follow.
cute-teen-natalie: mom! mom! oh, this is awful!
hemos: what is it dear?
cute-teen-natalie: the football hit me on the side of the head. it knocked my hair loose so that it flows elegantly down my back! i am now even more beautiful! this is awful!
female-signal 11 and male-signal 11 enter the kitchen.
female-signal 11: mom!
hemos: what is it, signal 11?
male-signal 11: we are tired of being the middle child! we are tired of having to play with ourself in the basement!
hemos: signal 11, i told you not to play with yourself! that is why you are in the basement in the first place! six-year-old-natalie, come in here!
six-year-old-natalie joins the others in the kitchen.
six-year-old-natalie: yes, mother?
hemos: now, you, six-year-old-osm, cute-teen-natalie and teen-osm have been very mean to signal 11. i want you and six-year-old-osm to go to your room until supper. the same goes for cute-teen-natalie and teen-osm.
six-year-old-natalie: oh, six-year-old-osm, finally we may explore each other in our childlike innocence! how my undeveloped breasts and unfattened buttocks have yearned for your boyish hand!
six-year-old-osm: hooray!
the six-year-olds hold hands as they skip off to their room.
cute-teen-natalie: teen-osm! we may finally consumate our teen curiosities! how my pouting teen breasts tingle under my bodice! how my rump quivers in anticipation!
teen-osm: by my open-source hand shall you take the next step to womanhood!
cute-teen-natalie & teen-osm: hooray!
teen-osm throws cute-teen-natalie over his shoulder and carries her to their room.
male & female signal 11 turn to leave through the patio door.
hemos: where are you going signal 11?
male-signal 11: nobody appreciates us here. we are going to run away and gain feelings of acceptance by bribing slashdot moderators with cheap crack to give us karma.
hemos: hooray!
cmdrtaco enters the front door, carrying a brief-case.
cmdrtaco: hi, honey! i'm home!
hemos: oh, cmdrtaco! let us retire to the bedroom and frolick like the playful imps we are! all day, i have been dreaming of commanding your taco into my throbbing rectum.
as hemos and cmdrtaco walk to the bedroom holding hands, rms enters the kitchen. he removes several pans filled with meat from the oven.
rms: hey! doesn't anyone want a piece of this gnu?! well, i guess i'll have to eat it myself. shoot, just when i was trying to lose some weight.
laugh track, applause.
i like german girls. and nannies.
From their website :
...
Tillotson joined Charmed Technology in February 2000 as a sensory designer. Her focus is the introduction of smell technology to wearable computing and digital fashion. Jenny is responsible for setting up the London Sensory Design Lab(TM).
Through the addition of smell technology and pheromones to the world of fashion design, clothing and accessories, Jenny is creating a whole new 'multi-sensorial' environment.
Sorry, honey, all of the clothing I own is already saturated with my own patented HebGb(TM) pheremone blend. Most of my geek friends have gone far beyond, carefully refining their UltraStink(TM) and MegaStink(TM) bioengineered pheremone capsules, which are now strong enough to elicit responses from over 10m away (depending on prevailing winds), as well as strip paint.