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Whereables?

Posted by Cliff on from the still-a-small-niche dept.

d4 asks: "Thad Starner has been using a wearable computer daily since 1993, and Steve Mann has had an impressive amount of press coverage over the years. But if you want wearable computing in 2005, it seems you must build your own system. Why, after all this time and attention, are wearables still not commercially available?"

10 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. maybe... by same_old_story · · Score: 5, Insightful

    because they are still bulky and pretty useless...

  2. Because by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Funny

    Even geeks want to try and find a date!

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  3. 3 Simple Reasons by smug_lisp_weenie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Battery life- Batteries haven't been keeping up with other computer components in terms of improvements. A hefty CPU just drains them too quickly- And without a hefty CPU a Palm PC form factor is more practical.
    2. Headaches- Nobody has figured out how to make an eyeglass display that doesn't cause lots of complaints about migranes. The atari VR system and the Nintendo VR both got killed by this.
    3. Dork factor- Until Apple releases an iWearable and tempts all the hipster-wannabes with commercials, you just can't walk around with this gear in public without feeling weird- Just like with MP3 players pre-ipod.

  4. Why I don't use wearable computers Reason #1: by rocjoe71 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't use wearable computers since my tie keeps getting caught in the CPU fan.

    --
    Height: 38U, Weight: 0 Newtons, Eyes: #0000FF, OS: Gray Matter 1.0 (Alpha)
  5. I was going to be funny but... by Bin_jammin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess if you really have to ask why there are no wearable computers, the humor would just be lost anyway.

  6. I wear a computer by RzUpAnmsCwrds · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What everyone seems to miss is that we are already wearing computers. 145 million Americans have cellular telephones. Many of them have capabilities that far surpass what could be done with 1996-class desktops, let alone wearables.

    There's no need for the dorky headgear or the wierd chorded keyboards. I'm already wearing a computer. It's the Danger Hiptop2. It has a thumbkeyboard, a display, a connection to the internet, and a number of other features. It can do just about anything that the "wearables" of 1996 could do.

    Wearables don't exist because they don't need to exist. What's wrong with products like the Dell Axim X50v? It has a 624MHz PXA270 ARM processor, 64MB of DRAM, 128MB of flash, a VGA touchscreen, WLAN, Bluetooth, infared, CF and SD expansion, and a lot more.

    It's $425, it runs for 6 hours on batteries, and it absolutely blows away any "wearable" you saw on the Discovery Channel. Oh, and you don't look like a dork for carrying one.

  7. One more. by jfisherwa · · Score: 5, Funny

    4. Basements- Having a wearable computer would mean that geeks would actually have to enter the unforgiving world that awaits beneath the scorching sun.

  8. Actually, they are out there. by bruciferofbrm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Look at: http://www.xybernaut.com

    They have been at it for some time.

    I use dto want to play this game too. Spent a lot of money (of what I could afford) on some gear. Closet thing I had to a mobile processor was an old laptop.

    But at the time, display technology was below perfomance / dollar expections of the everyday man. But persevered I did. Even wrote a contact manager that runs in low resolution with a one handed keyboard.

    In the end I made the same decision most other people will. For the dollar, you can't get where you want to be. The only real people capable of advancing this field are still the R&D gang and the college kids (usually the same group).

    In addition, as mentioned by others, it hard to beat some of eht computing power availble in the PDA form factor (especially in Japan). I have been oon PDAs since the original PALM 128k unit. No need for a bulky monocular display hanging off my head, great run time, and lots of applications for the mobile user. And yet.. nothing truely pervasive as seen in the wearble experimental world.

  9. Three words... by ralphclark · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Heads-Up Display.

    If you have to stop surfing to cross the road, it's not a proper wearable.

  10. exactly! by interactive_civilian · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Anyone remember that IBM commercial of the businessman sitting on a bench in a plaza feeding the pigeons. At the beginning of the commercial, it looked like he was talking to himself and he gets more and more excited, finally jumping up and down shouting "YES!!" and all of the birds fly off. The idea was that he was watching his stock take off in realtime over the internet on a display mounted on his glasses that projected into his eyes.

    That is what I am waiting for. Something small, unobtrusive, and no less stylish than glasses. It would be really cool if you could have it be a semi-transparent overlay over the real world. It would be even more cool if a system could be implemented to feed you realtime info about what you are looking at.

    But I get the feeling I'll get one of those for free with my Flying Car that I will have won as part of the opening sales promotion of Duke Nukem Forever.

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks