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Ultra-Cool Wireless Wearables
moonboy writes "I just saw this story linked to from Ars Technica. Motorola and Frog Design have recently released information about some awesome new prototypes for wearable computing with wireless capability using Bluetooth technology. The wearables group will include a WDA (Wearable Digital Assistant) which will serve as the communications hub, the Wristable, Goggles, Digi-Cam, Comport, Radio-button, and the Intelli-pen. Very cool stuff!" Prototype seems a strong word....
WDA's are sOOOOO much cooler than PDA's ;)
Somebody with a high-gain antenna will just immediately "see" what you are seeing. fuck spy-satellites; just let everyone do the spying for you (well, sell a lot of those glasses first, anyhow)!
Stalkers are gonna have such a blast with all these.
On the other hand, I predict that shit like this will be embedded into our bodies within no time.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
"The Wristable serves the same function and has the same technical description as the WDA, but it is worn on the wrist. The display is black and white."
Now where does the full-colour-display picture
come from?
Am I the only one that thinks the wearable market, at least for right now, is a little overrated? Most people will admit to at least a small amount of suspicion that technology is taking over our lives. Many mention that they leave their cell phone's and PDA's *behind* when they want to be more productive, and express concern about the amount of technology (like cells, complex radio setups) that distracts drivers.
But HUD's in glasses, wireless pens, etc... isn't this all just geared more towards satisfying the cliche markets? Is there anything useful out there?
I can imagine a purpose for current PDA's--they're an appropriate size, and with a screen that can display a substantial amount of information, all with an acceptable battery life. And I can imagine that Bluetooth would be useful in a portable PDA-like system, but it seems like just like buzz on these "prototypes."
"plans to bring a product based on the design to market within two years."
Ericsson showed similar devices years ago, and most other producers have had concept products similar to these ones. Lets just hope they start showing up in the stores for real this time. 2 years is a long time.
On the less negative side, there is potential for coolness. My Mac is already Bluetooth-capable so after donning all this electronics, I could watch DVDs with the HUD while on the can, or write on a pad in bed with the pen motions captured and translated into an electronic document. Whoa.
But can you run Linux on one? :P
"Goggles: Integrated into the frame of exciting, stylish sports eyewear"
"Stylish" and "geek toys" like this are mutually exclusive aren't they?
a Microsoft-powered Wearable Personal Assistant...
oops you're electrocuted!
"Brings your porn wherever you are"(tm)
I guess these are the next steps to full-on gargoyle mode (everyone on Slashdot has read Snow Crash, right?)...
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
The WDA is a handheld device that contains the same components as an iDEN phone. This device does not use a numeric keypad. Instead, it contains voice recognition capabilities
Why did you say "halt"? Heck you rebooted the PDA in my shoes.
.ACMD setaloiv siht gnidaeR
...for the wearable version of my favourite gaming console...
Hope the "PS3" will have one..
Or at least I hope that some video card manifact. will release a very compact version of his "top series" card...
Apple iProduct. Non importa cosa sia, lo comprerete!
Would I have a beowulf wardrobe then ???
I've heard much talk about "wireless computing" and "computing on the go" and communication anywhere and I dont believe in any of it. It may be great to carry an entire computer with you wherever you go but i'd never want to. I would hate my company being able to get in touch with me wherever I go (they can be quite of a bother sometimes!) and I'd hate my wife being able to contact me to on a guy's night out. It is more trouble than worth if you ask me. I'll just stick with my good old Motorolapager i've had since 1997 and get in touch with whoever needs me when _I_ want to.
I've been waiting for something like the glasses to hit the marked for a long time. They've been showing them in commercials and stuff forever.
My only fear is that when they do eventually hit the market, they will be outragously expensive ($2,000 is my guess..)
I'd also hope that they would have some less "fashionable" models.. Those are ugly as sin. And perhaps some that aren't sunglasses at all, but simply a HUD.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
It should very interesting to have the cam at my shoes and connecting, via Bluetooth, with my bluetooth enabled glasses....girls should be worried...
I like PWP's myself. Sure haven't seen many in a while, or maybe jus cause I haven't been around too much lately ;)
Hell. My only fear is that someone will figure out how to hack the wireless protocol and beam the goatse guy direct to my eyeballs.
"I'm tired of all this 'Aren't humanity great' bullshit. We're a virus with shoes" - Bill Hicks
Talk about "Batman Factor". These go to 11!
We really need your help
http://www.gofundme.com/help-sherry
worked on the bus. Or the plane, or train or long haul travel when you want to look out the window as well as read a book.
they might even be good to cut down the building wide phone PA paging that used to interrupt me so much that I cut the speaker cable in my desk phone. It could ring (flashing light) but it couldn't speak.
It might even be useful in hosptital if it didn't interfere with the life support.
I think a heads up street map might be handy. Especially in my town, where street signs seem conspicuously absent.
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
The new motorola pda/calculator/cellphone/wap-enabled wristable also works as a high frequency contraceptive offering coverage up to 100 meters (UK) away.
____
ATS11=0 the secret to beating everyone else to a 1 line board.
The goggles look really cool, and with a 800x600 display I can think of numerous applications.
;)
Imagine going to an art museum and instead of borrowing a tape-recorder that tells you what you are looking at, you borrow a pair of goggles and information pops up next to the item.
Or - you're trying to find your way around in an unknown city. Large arrows directing you in the right direction will emerge (based on your GPS)
Last, but not least, I can go online with my GPRS phone and follow all my favorite IRC channels while skiing
Bill's wearable watch: Bill, you've got mail.
Bill: Damn! Couldn't you find a better time?
[Removes watch and flings it away.]
Bill: Ahhh, Traaaaaacyyyyyy......
Tracy's babel fish: No matches found. Did you mean: 1) Trace 2) Tracing 3) Racy
Tracy: Shit!
[Removes babel fish]
Bill remembers just in the nick of time that his goggles are connected to the internet! And he's turned the firewall off, which means that anyone that connects to port 23484 on his goggles can see what he's seeing!!! [Takes goggles off]
Bill starts scratching Tracy's back. Immediately, her intellipen software kicks into action and tries to figure out what he's writing.
[2 hours later]
Bill and tracy are finally done spurning all the advances from their various bluetooth devices, at which point they realize they forgot to switch off the webcam...
"Digi-Cam: Digital Camera This is a mini-digital camera that is Bluetooth enabled. It has a clip that allows it to be worn on any piece of clothing. Tethered to the digi-cam is the shutter button. After an image is captured, it is immediately sent to either the WDA or the wristable."
Why on Earth would you bother with a tethered shutter button when the camera's already Bluetooth enabled? Just put the shutter interface on the WDA and have the WDA tell the camera to take a picture whenever it wants, on a schedule, timed, whatever. Wireless good, tether bad.
Cheers,
-j.
This is interesting future, but certainly we'll have to make some kind a "failsafe" encryption, that at least is wery difficult to break. If you make this common, you could risk that someone cracked your watch, to get out some , lets say, passwords. Then he maybe could get further into the high security devices you wore. And since it is wireless, it would be wery difficult to find whom that had taken it. A PAN network cant be that small that it only reaches a feet or something. Usually they go at least 20 feet, and at that range, it would be difficult to see who's monitoring you. Of course, you could have a limitation on one foot, so that you had to put your watch up against the main transmitter or somthing, but then half the point would be gone. So, at least I think so, most people would be suspicious as long as it was a possibility that some other person was reading your scheudle.
Anyway, the problem is not your scheudle, but for example if they could get your passwords or something, or even, if you were at a high posisition, get the "top" secrets of your company. And when you moved around, the governement could track you. This would give big brother a new dimension. Read the story written by John Bing , called "Big brother's carneval" for more (funny) abbrevations on this topic.
Assembling etherkillers for fun an profit
Is this how the Borg started out?
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated???
... the big issue is not wearing the devices, it's actually wearing the antenna.
Signatures are for stupids.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of-- you know what? nevermind. The goggles look like they would might have potential if there was a convient method for input. I agree with earlier posters, devices like these would/will be more useful if they are easily interfaced to (ie not necessarily open sourced/free, but precompiled drivers aren't enough). Overall I feel that this is certainly a step in the right direction. Todays computer _feels_ like a computer, hopefully our children will have the benefits that current computers provide integrated more seamlessly into their day to day doings. Perhaps someday in the distant future we'll have email on portable telephones....ummm wait a minute. Anyways, what I'm getting at is the big humming box in the corner of the room is slowly evolving. baby steps are ok
This is hardly innovative. Gauntlets, PDAs, and HUDs have been around on the market, in sci fi, and cobbled together by hobbyists for decades to varying degrees.
The most significant hurdle for wearables is not styling. It is in developing a user interface and applications designed to be used while walking around, not sitting at a desk or standing still.
Real innovation will be when someone develops the wearable equivilent of the desktop metaphor and wearable equvilent to the mouse for input control. Sorry, current PDA menuing and compass navigation is insufficient.
When the industry gets serious and looks to marketize products like this, I hope they have more vision than simply re-purposing existing user interface mechanisms (and hire me to design the embedded UI). Wearables could be the next killer app.
"You have liberated me from thought."
Now, we may have it. Of course, he wasn't really a gadget man per se, nor were technology and gadgets his driving force. Founder of the NSF, he saw technology as an enabler to furthering the human condition, improving it's access to information, ultimately making us smarter...
Will this do it? No, but we'll be able to walk around for a bit and show how cool it is to have a $2000 wearables rig strapped to us that doesn't overfill a fanny pack.
worked on the bus. Or the plane, or train or long haul travel when you want to look out the window as well as read a book.
Why wouldn't they work in all those places? I can understand there may be interference issues on aircraft, but not with the other things you mention. I use a PDA & mobile/bluetooth combo to browse & email from the train quite frequently right now - works fine.
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
(must remember to hit post anon option before clicking submit button...)
Wow, those are some hot looking goggles; definatley need to incorporate some display technology within them. :)
"True refinement seeks simplicity."
Everytime a new phone or PDA comes out which incorporates multiple features, at least someone says they want a seperate device which does each thing properly, but they never really want to carry them all around all the time..
With this sort of solution, its not an issue to incorporate the tech you need that day and, hopefully, they are each quality components...
Those glasses will certainly improve examination scores in colleges and universities.
Sssssppppppaaaaacccccceeeeee Ggggghhhhooosssstttt !!!
I think there's numerous applications for wearable technology. The whole desktop/keyboard paradigm has evolved from machines which took up an entire basement - even the best PDAs are still basically trying to fit a conventional office setup (phone, organiser, calendar, word processor, etc.) into a tiny little magical electric gizmo. No wonder people end up leaving them behind when they want to relax. At the other extreme, personal stereos are a great example of wearable technology. They don't read email, they don't browse the web - hell, most of them even use a good old-fashioned cable to connect the player to the headset - but they work, they're useful, and they've gained enough acceptance that you can wear headphones on the train without looking like a freak.
I was reading recently (don't recall where, sorry) about a set of goggles with a build-in camera and HUD, that would OCR Japanese characters on notices and signs and display their English translations. Even if it only worked with basic words like 'hotel', 'metro', 'toilet', this would be of huge benefit to English speakers lost in downtown Tokyo. This sort of angle could be a major selling point for wearable kit once it matures. With GPS, wearable hardware would be able to tell where you are and which direction you're facing - you wouldn't need a keyboard or voice interface to tell it where you were, 'cos it would already 'know'. It'd be like those infrared audio guides in museums, only it would work everywhere. Imagine wandering the streets of Prague or Athens, looking at some wonderful old building, and being able to find out who built it and when without having to dig out the guidebook and hunt through the index.
My point is, everyone's thinking about wearable tech as a way of taking things with you - email, phones, internet access - and missing the potential killer apps which you just *can't* do with desk-based hardware.
-- Open Source: It's mad, but you don't have to work here to help.
I think at this point, Moto is in an 80's Chrysler state. They are putting out ok stuff, but not innovating in design and especially advancing standards or creating new concepts. Chrysler finally learned this wasn't the way to go and started producing the Prowler, the Viper, The PT Cruiser, and even the concept car from 5 years ago, the Atlantic; was WAY AHEAD of it's time. Some of it's features will be in the soon to be released Maybach. But alas, they were purchased by Mercedes. This is possibly the way Moto will go. I think a conglom like Masushita (Panasoinc) or maybe even Sony will buy them out within the next 5 years. Both of those companies have diverse needs for embedded processors, Moto's real money. Sony has always seen merit in the Apple side of computing and could make HUGE inroads with such a purchase. Sony Pres (see mac web sites) recently said he wishes he could buy Apple and has wanted to for a LONG time.
Which segways into this; Moto best exemplifies what I'm trying to say by the lack of innovation and forsight into the PowerPC processor that is used embedded in Cisco routers and as the G4 in Apple products. Motorola single handedly has cost Apple market share. They locked Apple into the processor and made the PowerPC such a proprietary RISC implementation that no one even wanted to copy it. Finally, they have released the Altivec core technologies to IBM, one of the PPC AIM partners. I beleive the muscle and R&D at IBM will bring great things to the PPC line and soon with the Power 4 and Power 5.
Another segway. Truthfully, these products are almost here in some form and two years as the article states for these "revoltionary" products to be realeased will be behind the curve. Moto will just be another player in the market and probably even higher priced. Moto isn't as recognized the name as it was for the 30's 40's 50's generations and few see why they should pay a premium for their products rather than say a Sony something or other.
The pen is basically here from Logitech (bluetooth ink and digipen), the Glasses are basically here from Sony (glasstron), the watch has been here without a big company or mass apeal for nearly two years, the PDA by means of the Zaurus or iPaq, maybe now the Sony P800, and the wireless headphones already exist in close to the same form factor as the article pitched. All of the things I mentioned now have bluetooth too!
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
So, yes, these kinds of products will eventually appear. They will probably be boxy and more traditional looking because people likely feel silly running around with gadgets that look like sex toys or sunglasses that are appropriate for a three-year-old. And their release date will depend on such mundane factors as when their power consumption will be low enough that they will be usable. What good is a futuristic wrist PDA, after all, if it only runs for 15 minutes?
Personal thoughts: I got an M1 head-mounted display, but I found it to be too cumbersome (heavy on the head) and it distracted other people. Not a hardware hacker, so I haven't done any of the covert mods. Anyway, I switched to a monaural headset (just a single earphone+mic, looks like a handsfree kit) and am using Emacspeak for sound output. I still occasionally get confused, but it's pretty decent. I use a Twiddler for key input. The whole thing is pretty unobtrusive. I look like I'm listening to music and/or texting.
OK, I'm as much a geek as the next guy, but you won't catch me anytime soon strapped to one of those things. The cell phone and the laptop are enough. And contrary to most people here, I do make liberal use of the OFF SWITCH and am not bothered too much by being on an electronic leash.
In the end, most people would prefer something like on Startrek. Unintrusive devices like the computer you can talk to. The PAD. The communicator. I think that's all I want.
On the other hand, manufacturers will introduce these things and see what sticks. I do reserve the right to change my mind later on.
Are you sure they're goggles? It looks like a Bra to me.
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
One can say the same thing about movies and music.
The key is creativity to bring comprehension to the masses. This was the point of The Matrix. It better told the Alice in Wonderland story to the modern generation. Both are satire and allegory.
Also, just to make example with your comment. I thought the interaction by entire hand movement, translucent layered screens and earbud in Minority Report was VERY innovative. There wasn't a tricked out cyberworld with googles or wearable computer to be seen.
Your eyes were indentifiers (instead of RFIDs)
Reverse segway: Rap made old music new again. So it was redone; it sounded completely new. Something doesn't have to be "never before seen" or proprieatry to be different or new!
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
What would be REALY cool is if you can set up Photoshop-like real time filters for the visuals. Change the lighting situation, play with the colors etc.
Bet if you wear all of that at once you'll play havoc with yours,
Sounds cool though
They don't work on an interstate unless they put a web server with satellite link on the train/plane/boat - I don't think anyone has bothered yet. Ie an interstate traveller in Australia, is out of phone range and wireless nets when you get 30km outside the city limits. In fact when I was doing the Sydney commute between Blacktown and Central, the signal on my mobile dropped out there in the middle of the most densely populated bit of Australia, as well. And there was even less coverage west of Blacktown. If it ain't together in Sydney, it is not covered properly in the other capital cities. I'd be expecting more reliable and cheaper coverage than my mobile phone before I bothered trying to hook up to the internet. And I can't stand using the phone keypad for typing messages. I, um, (my age is showing), learnt to type on a manual typewriter followed by an ibm golfball. phone keypad is no place for a touch typist and don't even start me with the palm interfaces. I'd rather have a fold out/rollout keyboard or voice recognition. Hmm, on a plane, it would possibly be better to have a RJ45 port in your seat arm with the port for radio/video sound, than to have more em data broadcasts. I thought phones on planes worked liked ship to shore radio or satellite phones ie your regular mobile phone network wouldn't connect unless you were flying low over town?
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
that they have arrow keys? that they have round edges? that you carry a computer on a wristband?
No wait -- they have all these "cool" technical features, like Bluetooth, voice control and stuff. Too bad they're just design concepts that only exist in Photoshop imagery. And were done by people from Frog who dont know sh*t about the technical buzzwords they tag on their creations.
cheers
Does anyone know where there is one. I found something on www.motorola.com that said that it wasn't available in Europe. Not very informative.
Does anyone know what the difference is between iDEN and GSM and CDMA, and can one phone run all of them or do you need three phones?
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
Ever heard of netstumbler? And the TIA's going to be really up for consumer military-grade crypto in the future? Christ on a bike.
My PDA doesn't fit in my pocket (well most of the time). Plus, since it's "out of the way", I don't use it. But if the information was popping up on a screen in front of my eyes? Damn right I'd be using it! (Can you tell that I really, really want something like those glasses? I always want to go off and build my own MIThril system and then remember that (a) it is expensive and (b) I am not good with hardware (soldering, etc)).
Rachael
"Go Forth Ye Lemmings and Propagate"
What do I need this crap for? I just buy my clothes at Benetton's
MjM
XKCD:Xeric Knowledge Comically Dispen
Why is it that the terms "ultra cool", "wearable", and "computing device" always seem reasonable to string together until you actually see someone wearing this stuff, and then you realize it's not?
Call me when you can implant the HUD emitter on the inside of my iris, the input device under the skin of the inside of my forearm, and the speech synthesizer in my earlobe. =)
I browse Slashdot at +3, Funny
---------
Visualize Whirled Peas
You can buy something very similar to the goggles here http://www.aeinnovations.com/forsale/gal7/
Isn't it going to be a pain in the butt to have a separate battery in each "wireless" component?
It will be pretty easy to figure out who's stalking... Just watch for pringle can attached to their heads.
-lm
The Internet's best search engine integrated into the frame of exciting, stylish sports eyeware.
Now THAT'S useful technology!
Maybe I'm just an old fogey. But WHY? Yeah, it's "cool". But is wearable tech really NECESSARY? This is the geek version of the sneakers with LEDs in them.
You don't like butterscotch pudding?
JIHAD! KILL THE INFIDEL!
SQUEAK, the Death of Rats explained.
First, I think the watch is obsolet, a bit to clumpsy. Better to have only a PDA and wear it somewhere in your jacket or even in bag or rucksack.
... the PDA should be able to route its display to the googles and instead of working on the PDA screen use gesture.
What is missing is a ring like device which is "seen" by the googles and used as mouse ersatz or gesture recognizing device.
It seems to passive to just have googles
angel'o'sphere
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
you guys in the US really don't get wireless stuff do you? How come you are so far behind on it?
We in Europe feel sorry for you. Hmmm - at least you don't have the French tho.. LOL
Out of all the nonexistant wearable computers I've ever seen, this is by far the coolest.
Anyone remember the IBM wearable/hud/cell they advertised (the one where the guy is feeding the pigeons in the park and buying/selling shit) as coming soon on the last episode of ds9?
Prospecting Stinks. Stop Wasting Time on Cold Calling.
you geeks need to smarten up! This stuff is neat I'll give you that. I would even like to have this stuff to play around with. But cool? no it is not cool. It is very geeky. Geeky is not cool. Some say that geeky is the opposite of cool, those people are wrong. However geeky is not cool.
If you are a geek, be proud. Say that this stuff is neat. Geeks like neat stuff. However, please do not pretend that you are a normal human by creating you're own definition of cool.
and you can, too! in fact, they are already around your wrists and heads as you read this.
i'm actually going to call mine VAPOR, since that's what it is.
I'm sorry, but I just don't understand why these companies are continuing to implement Blue Tooth. With the maturity of wi-fi 802.11b, 802.11g, and coming soon UWB, why would anyone choose BlueTooth??? It has inferior bandwidth and inferior range.
Why would I carry around a WDA that has a range of 30 feet if I'm lucky, when I can wear the same thing that has 10 times the range and 10 times the bandwidth?
I think its time that companies who stupidly spent billions on developing BlueTooth humble themselves and realize they made a huge mistake with their investments and move on, rather than try to push this inferior technology onto the market. To bluetooth companies out there - I'm not buying it!
Planet P Blog
www.enthea.org
It's segue, not segway. I know spelling corrections piss people off, but that damn scooter has introduced a nasty infection upon the English language, and I just wanted to let you know.
Just a note that MIT has their wireless wearables at http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/mithril
It might be good to see the code that is running on these devices.
The following is copied form a zine called Technical Musings that is occationally posted on news:alt.cyberpunk that seems relevant. As it is fre to copy (see later issues) I have included the text here:
(start here)
From: alienthe@my-deja.com (alienthe@my-deja.com)
Subject: Technical Musings, September
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk
Date: 2000-09-18 03:20:07 PST
Time for another one, having been too busy to write much over the summer.
So it is year 2000 and we still cannot take a well deserved holiday on the moon, something we were more or less promised in the 60's. On
the other hand it does look promising for those Gernsbachian fashions from that age with skin tight clothing, cool capes and weird antennas
everywhere.
Fashion is a frequent topic in this forum and it is strange to see some of the ideas people have for cyberpunk fashion. Some includes
accessories such as broken circuit boards which to me looks as cool as a pluber wearing a broken toilet ring over the shouders. Surely
functionality is the key? Or "technical literacy" as they put it in the Movement about 20 years ago. Now tech and fashion might converge
onto some interesting things.
Computers keep on getting smaller but if extrapolated too far computers would at one point become too small to be useful. Some
cell phones are already dangerously close to this limit where the keys are so small you risk pressing too many and the screen too
tiny to be readable. A new solution is needed.
Another trend is that of adding intelligence and sensors everywhere now even on packaging. You can look forward to the joys on opening
your fride in the morning to hear the food wrapping cheerfully announce "I AM OFF!!" I am sure you simply cannot wait for this.
Now combining this you get wearable computers and smart clothing (or packaging for the body if you wish) that gives you new solutions to the user interfaces combined with a lot of new functionality. And also what I'd guess is true cyberpunk fashion.
THE TECH
Smart clothing is far more than a wearable computer. To start off with you have a networking fabric (no pun) that allows plugging
in a variety of devices which probably calls for open standards. Open clothing? Still no pun.
To this you fit your main computer and a number of optional devices:
- communications gear such as UMTS, IrDA, Bluetooth, radio etc that allows you to be on line all time, maximising bandwidth while using cheapest access;
- GPS to keep track of where you are, possibly corrected with differential data received from the comms system;
- sensors such as camera, microphone, radio/audio DF, etc;
- motion capture sensors in the bodysuit;
- tactile actuators for feedback;
- health and damage sensors;
- medics units;
- VR glasses (with eye tracker) to overlay synthetic info onto
normal field of view;
Motion capture is useful for VR interfaces, solving the user interface problems in the micro miniatirised devices, which in the future might be without any outer user interfaces, just a
connector to the body suit network. For motion capture to work properly the bodysuit has to be tight fitting, a handy excuse when showing shapely models using such systems.
Tactile feedback is important, after all you want to feel what you reach out and touch in virtual space. One solution is to use piezoelectric transducers that deform as you apply voltage.
Adding these to your hands, especially your finger tips, will fake the sense of touch and contact sufficiently convincingly. Perhaps you might wish to forgo feedback on your shins, elbows
and the top of your head.
Also if you want to have camouflage (as used by Major Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell) it has to be tight so the system can know what part of the fabric faces what direction. Using two cameras covering one hemisphere each (say face and neck) you can generate a camo pattern for the opposing side of your body using something
"Ultra-Cool Wireless Wearables"
I suspect many normal people would consider this statement an oxymoron. Looking like a Borg != Cool.
I have a Handspring Prism and boy it's great. Bright screen, vivid colors, and a nifty phone module. Trouble is, the battery sucks dry in no time. cracking it open, it's a pretty big battery. How are you going to fit a battery in those funky goggles that will give it any sort of battery life greater than 15 seconds? And no, sorry, but having a power cord running out the back rather defeats the purpose of having a wearable computer in the first place.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
With mass adoption, a propriterary voice input is capable of great filtering capabilities, without the keyboard and a way for the user to imput the message, a software company is in control of the speech on the network and this has serious consequencies, if widely adopted, proprietary companies could dictate speech.
With a keyboard, slang and language evolves, with voice recognition speech is out of the control of public sector.
... for personal reasons (http://www.handykey.com/), but with this setup and voice recognition, both hands are free!
I have never understood why there are so many "technology is intruding my life" or "email steals my work time" or "cell phones let my boss interrupt my free time" complaints. Or why people feel like they have to completely leave these devices behind.
It's like they are magically compelled to immediately answer any phone call or respond to any email/page/SMS/IM that they receive. You do not have to answer. You have voicemail. Your email will not vanish. Your phone can be set to silent, or turned off, and still be kept with you in case *you* need to use it.
These devices are not intrusive. What is intrusive is this built-in reflex people have that they MUST answer any communication RIGHT NOW.
Busy? Don't pick up. It's that simple. Why doesn't anybody else get it?
Did anybody else notice the site had an article on the Matrix phone? Apparently it will be a Sprint PCS phone, and match one used in the new movie.
Photos here
The Register has an article about Samsung and IXI's Personal Mobile Gateways
Shirt: Warning! I see you just put on Navy-colored pants. I am black. We do not match. Please take the pants off and try again.
Ok, connect the glasses to some decent hardware in your backpack (bluetooth). Install a small digi-cam. Run the picture through some face-recognition-software. Lookup the result in your database. Display the recognised persons name and birthday on your HUD. Maybe google him. There you are, no more "Hello, Mr. arhhh...". Or run the picture through some photoshop-filter, extrapolate her figure, use some graphik-hardware und finally you have it: The X-RAY GOOGLES!
I've been wanting to ding around with bluetooth in a hobbiest fashion for awhile now, but haven't been able to find any parts and/or good websites that outline how one would go about this. Does anybody know of any resources for regular guys with soldering irons w.r.t. Bluetooth?
I would be really excited if they made a Bluetooth transciever with integrated antenae in something like a 20-pin DIP...
-AP
a cool plugin for wearable computers: a sensor to avoid the "is my zipper down?" reflex, when a gorgeous gal comes our way...
NEOCA - Custom LED Flashlights
That's like two years in Internet time.
But seriously, if it looks cool now, in two years it will be obsolete.
Do people really want 50 different little thumb sized gadgets that they'll have to keep track of everytime they change their pants?
I have 3, an iPod, a cell phone, and a camera, and that's too much for me sometimes.
What I want is a single device, that can play music/videos, has a lot of memory (i.e. harddisk), is a cell phone, can take pictures, and organize my life.
Sorry, but the more gadgets I have, the more chances I have of losing them.
My typing and grammar skills diminish dramatically when typing fast.
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
any sites out there trying to make a comparable version to the glasses?
or a HUD for a car. that could be useful as well.
The best-looking one I've seen is from Jabra - the pictures look a bit clunky, but in practice it wraps neatly around your ear, looking like somewhat spacy jewelry (it made my friend who had it looked a bit like she was one of the Borg, though :-)
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Most of that probably takes more than Bluetooth for range and speed; it's only ~750kbps, presumably less if lots of people are trying to talk to you, but that just says you run WiFi on the larger module in your jacket pocket.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Or are you mainly planning to watch pr0n with them?
But, yes, appropriate user interfaces and applications have to be developed to avoid stupidity like that. Some of it may be applications for the camera to detect when you're about to bump into people...
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Low price hasn't happened yet - things like USB-to-Bluetooth frobs cost about $70, and while prices have come down a lot, most Bluetooth devices seem to cost about $50 more than non-Bluetooth. (The original headsets were more like $200, and most are down to ~$100 or so.) As far as low power goes, several of the headsets talk about ~4 hours talk time per charge, which is marginally acceptable.
Data speed is certainly a tradeoff - 750kbps is about enough for decent music audio, but way more than enough for cell-phone audio (I don't know the power tradeoffs for radio vs. CPU, but I'd guess that cellphone headsets get 64kbps uncompressed audio and let the cellphone do the CPU-intensive compression/decompression to get ~6.5-13.3kbps?) And of course things like keyboards and mice don't need any appreciably bitrate. But
All this stuff is designed for driving peripherals, not for running disk drives, much less raw SVGA video on the thing - it's more likely to need some kind of X-Windows equivalent or Display Postscript or ASCII-plus-simple-pictures, where you're sending objects to the glasses, not bitmaps.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Joshu: What is the true Way?
Nansen: Every way is the true Way.
J: Can I study it?
N: The more you study, the further from the Way.
J: If I don't study it, how can I know it?
N: The Way does not belong to things seen: nor to things unseen.
It does not belong to things known: nor to things unknown. Do
not seek it, study it, or name it. To find yourself on it, open
yourself as wide as the sky.
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