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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...
___
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 :)
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
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
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 couldn't negotiate a socks connection."
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Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
"// this is the most hacked, evil, bastardized thing I've ever seen. kjb"
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)
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.
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.
``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.
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
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?"
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.