Slashdot Mirror
MIThril, More Wearable Fun
whacked writes "For those that haven't checked the MIT wearables page in a while, there seems to be a bit of action. The MIThril project looks like a major advance on the original MIT wearable design, with features such as the body bus, `a branching single-cable power/data network.' An update on May 25 states, `We have finalized the plans for the first "release" MIThril'." They also link a design doc for Enchantment which has a ton of interesting bits about designing a Window Manager for a wearable. Don't expect to see an actual device any time soon, but for the far-out thinker, there's lots of interesting stuff to read and think about.
Interesting Stuff is having in related fields, as well. Last week's New Scientist had an article on flight suits utilising tactile cues capitalising on the 'cutaneous rabbit' effect. Basially, if you get tapped three times, it'll feel like many more, so a small number (32) of pressure pads all over your body will provide a nearly seamless feeling of contact anywhere on your body. They're using it for pilots right now, but as far as intuitive interfaces go, getting 'tapped on the shoulder' when your phone's ringing isn't a bad one. Plugging this into your car's computer and letting it give you cues whenever there's something getting too close sounds alot better than actually letting the automobile drive *itself* if you ask me. And damn, I just can't park.
One of the great things is that it uses air-pressure in the interconnecting system to feed the pads. Alot safer and lighter than carrying around huge battery packs.
toeslikefingers.com - because
Anyway, I'm happy to answer questions on that or on the MIThril project in general.
If the bandwidth of the bus is 12Mb/s, theoretically a good 1Mb/s can be achieved (overhead/etc) for actual data. This could lead to a nice stream of 128Kb/s or greater in audio format. Now all one needs is two good mics, one by each ear and a microdrive and interface and you have da bomb portable recording station. What goes down on track is exactly what you hear, no big bulky rigs etc. Just a thought.
What people never looked at in the various trek series was how the Borg became the Borg.
My thought on this is that they would become the borg because in the beginning someone, somegroup, thought that all of that embedded/wearable technology is radically completely cool.
I can imagine the first network where a human can access computer data directly via a wire to that skull. Or where direct interfaces happen from brain to brain. Someone is going to have the equivalent of a religious experience as far as the significance of this vs Nirvana and the group mind.
People tend to become the things they resist. [Note for example, cops going criminal in their actions against crime] So already the seeds of the Borg are among us.
If you do not want to become a Borg in the present or future life, you will have to provide a better solution than the experience that the Borg will be.
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
is this.....is this for REAL?
great comedy company.
How often have you spilled coffee on an article of your clothing? Pretty often, right? Now what if that article of clothing had $1000 attached to it? Until wearable computers are waterproof, and in fact can take almost as much punishment as regular clothing, their usefullness will be limited.
:-)
By the way, who else felt pretty blue after reading the Swordfish review?
I'm the stranger...posting to