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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....
What happens though if I forget to charge the batteries? Will I still be able to use my clothing? If we put computers into everything, everything just might start crashing, at least if it has anything to do with MS. Pass me that linux tie!
I guess these are the next steps to full-on gargoyle mode (everyone on Slashdot has read Snow Crash, right?)...
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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 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
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.
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.
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