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Big Screen Viewing Effect For Mobile Phone Videos

Clarinase writes "Cellular phone subscribers can now view TV, movies, photos and broadband Internet content with a big screen viewing effect with Kopin CyberDisplay video eyewear from MicroOptical. This sleek eyewear allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away, delivering crisp, full-color video with a 17-degree field of view. This eyewear is connected to a cell phone through a thin cable, and allows up to five hours of video with three AAA batteries. Since it accepts composite video input (NTSC or PAL), the eyewear can be plugged into other devices with composite video outputs such as portable DVD players."

230 comments

  1. Thin cable? by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 2, Insightful

    No thanks. I'd rather have a cable that doesnt snap under any tension, especially when paying this much.
    I've lost far too many earbuds and headphones due to weak cables.

    --
    Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    1. Re:Thin cable? by justforaday · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why does it not surprise me that the irc.goatse.cx troll wants thick cables?

      --
      I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
    2. Re:Thin cable? by MoonBuggy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Score: 4, Insightful!? Aren't we supposed to be geeks? Aren't geeks supposed to like problem solving? There's a simple fix here: use a thin wire (with associated size, flexibility and weight advantages) which has plugs on both ends and will, as such, disconnect under tension. It's also easy to replace if it does break.

    3. Re:Thin cable? by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 2, Funny

      I am sure that wearing these on the bus/train/lunch room will get us all the ladies...
      How long before we read about someone driving with these on?
      I would like to see this type of thing for two functions (there were somewhat similar devices in the military)- 1) a picture in picture type display so that I can listen to my wife yell at me while there is a small display in an upper corner of my glasses showing sportscenter, or one of those E best bikini beaches shows or 2) a stop watch function in my field of view for running and doing intervals- it is a pain to keep screwing up my stride/ breaking form to look at my wrist watch.
      Also: RE: cables- I would wait until it is wireless... Imagine if you mumble and start talking about the coax that kept bumping your chin this morning....

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    4. Re:Thin cable? by Apreche · · Score: 0

      simple solution

      WIRELESS

      --
      The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    5. Re:Thin cable? by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

      people don't make money with these sorts of products, though.

      They make money by making these kinds of products, and having people replace them every couple months.

    6. Re:Thin cable? by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful
      simple solution

      WIRELESS

      What a great idea. Then the spammers can set up high-powered transmitters, and suddenly your wireless earbeans start getting ads like "Do you have a erectile dysfunction? Get cheap Mexican Viagra" or "My name is Daniel Tabooti, and I am the attache of the former Minister of Public Works in Nairobi"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    7. Re:Thin cable? by nkh · · Score: 1

      Wireless is great but it would give free TV for everyone in the bus or the subway car and I guess phone companies don't like that. Maybe some DRM solution would be involved but I don't think this kind of device would be powerful enough and a crack would be available very fast.

    8. Re:Thin cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've lost far too many earbuds and headphones due to weak cables.

      Bend you headr to one side, with your ear containing the lost earbud facing toward the floor. With a fist, firmly bang the opposite side of your head with serveral firms strokes. The earbud should free itself. However, I do not recommend reinsertion with a good cleaning with alcohol.

      Enjoy!

    9. Re:Thin cable? by cloudmaster · · Score: 1

      coax is pronounced like co-axe in this part of the world. I'm failing to see what that'd sound like mumbled (quacks?), though I can see how a misspelled variant might be slightly amusing...

    10. Re:Thin cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps you never slur when you drink....
      12 Inches of Limp coax on Yo' chin
      If this coax was on the wall, would it be wall caox?
      Yup
      If this coax was on my chest, would it be chest coax?
      Yup
      If this coax was on my chest, would it be chest coax?
      Hell no, You'd have some display glasses on yo face...
      My apologies to Dr. Dre But I think the poster meant coax can sound like, well a male hen, or a cock.

    11. Re:Thin cable? by afidel · · Score: 1

      Guess you never owned a pair of Sennheisers then. While their cords are anything but thin they have designed their headphones so that the cord can be easily replaced. This is to ensure that the headphones are long lasting, which is just one of many reasons why their product commands a large enough premium for them to make plenty of profit without designing things to break every few months. Hell when my son stepped on my headphones (which he had dragged to the ground) and it broke the jack in the headphones Sennheiser USA support sent me a replacement part free with free shipping despite the fact that they no longer even sold my model =)

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    12. Re:Thin cable? by Charles+W+Griswold · · Score: 1

      No problem, just use this. That way, the would-be spammer has to actually touch you. On the other hand, things could get nasty on a crowded subway train . . .

      --
      "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber" -- Plato
    13. Re:Thin cable? by Keruo · · Score: 1

      I've replaced the cord in my sennheisers twice now, and earpads once. the replaceable accessories have now cost almost as much as the headphones alone when I bought them. Though the headphones have lasted for over 10 years now, I decided no more part replacing for those.
      Perhaps it's time to move to cordless ones when the new parts fail.
      That'll be 3 years from now, if the current wear-rate continues.
      Things that kept me going wireless before was bad battery life and bad wireless units that caused noise in the reception. I think they have those flaws covered by now.

      --
      There are no atheists when recovering from tape backup.
    14. Re:Thin cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wireless also has the tiny problem of requiring a radio small enough to fit in the headset (including batteries) which is capable of receiving 30FPS of 2Mb video. Oh yeah...it also has to be certified to operate within 2cm of a human brain. Other than that, the problem is trivial.

      It is worth noting that the FA also indicated that the device already requires 3 AAA batteries. If I had a choice between carrying those in my pocket or on the bridge of my nose, I would put them in my pocket.

    15. Re:Thin cable? by notsoanonymouscoward · · Score: 1

      had wireless sennheisers... nice... but not worth it. I'm back on the POS sony's.

      --
      I ate my sig.
    16. Re:Thin cable? by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      "Score: 4, Insightful!? Aren't we supposed to be geeks? Aren't geeks supposed to like problem solving?"

      When there's karma involved, we're all cynical whiney bitches. "ooo! The article says it's cool! So if I point out just how silly and uncool it is (even if I have to really really reach), I'll be labeled as insightful!!"

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    17. Re:Thin cable? by mikael · · Score: 1

      Request that the cable has connectors at both ends and not just at one end.

      That's my greatest gripe with most consumer hardware (professional DJ headphones do this already).

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    18. Re:Thin cable? by FLEB · · Score: 1

      Or, a metal sheathing cable (or chain) that firmly attaches to both ends of the thin wire. If the thin wire has more slack than the chain, and the chain is well-anchored, the wire won't even be pulled.

      --
      Information wants to be free.
      Entertainment wants to be paid.
      You just want to be cheap.
    19. Re:Thin cable? by nv5 · · Score: 1
      What a great idea. Then the spammers can set up high-powered transmitters, and suddenly your wireless earbeans start getting ads like "Do you have a erectile dysfunction? Get cheap Mexican Viagra" or "My name is Daniel Tabooti, and I am the attache of the former Minister of Public Works in Nairobi"

      I'm not so sure about that, since
      • spamming is a very low percentage game, so the spam transmitter would have to:
        • reach millions of listeners
        • while staying undetected
        • while keeping the costs for that transmitter and its operation very low
      • audio spam would probably have an even lower response rate than email spam where the recipient can just click on links, since in audio spam the listener would have to remember the link the spammer has given her/him and at some later point make an effort to go to that site.
      But I thought the parent post was funny.
    20. Re:Thin cable? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like quacks. I'm sure the poster meant cocks, but even slurred, coax doesn't sound anything like cocks. No one converts hard o's to soft, at least no one I've ever heard slurring speach. Slurring and being totally wrong are not the same thing.

      Eh, whatever. I guess it was a joke. Bad jokes suck, though.

  2. Great styling.... not by gbulmash · · Score: 4, Funny
    I can't decide if these make you look more like Geordi LaForge from TNG, or a Cylon from the original "Battlestar Galactica". Since video glasses are nothing new (I remember a friend planning to buy a pair for a wearable computing rig in the late '90s), I can only assume that these are newsworthy because they look so ultra-geek.

    Greg

    1. Re:Great styling.... not by bugnuts · · Score: 1

      Many HUDs today make you look like Geek of Borg by fitting over one eye instead of Geek Laforge.

      I don't think this would be useful for a wearable rig, due to the low resolution. If it had about 4x the pixels, it might be useful for gaming if fitted with head-tracking.

    2. Re:Great styling.... not by xstonedogx · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but at least it contains those pesky beams of concussive force that keep shooting out your eyes.

    3. Re:Great styling.... not by iamjoltman · · Score: 1

      Actually, the first thing that came to mind for me was Cyclops from X-men

    4. Re:Great styling.... not by chrisnewbie · · Score: 1

      i can just see those headsets making the news in 10 years.
      "guy wanted to take his messages and the interface went down while driving at high speed on the freeway"

      People have a hard time enough driving and speaking on the cellphone, making a headset that completely covers your eyes is dangerous.

      And trust me there will be an ass (female or male) that will try using this while driving.

    5. Re:Great styling.... not by SEWilco · · Score: 1
      People have a hard time enough driving and speaking on the cellphone, making a headset that completely covers your eyes is dangerous.

      Some people seem to be driving with their eyes closed anyway. Driving with webcam on picture-in-picture will be worse?

    6. Re:Great styling.... not by chrisnewbie · · Score: 1

      hahhahahaha TRUE!

    7. Re:Great styling.... not by RFC959 · · Score: 1

      When I saw the headline, I said to myself, "I have to see what these look like."

      I went and saw them.

      "Yup, as dorky as ever."

      Slightly more seriously, I think the real breakthrough will be when they start making ones that look like regular glasses.

    8. Re:Great styling.... not by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

      320x240 is just enough for DOOM though. :-)

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  3. Overkill? by imaginieus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does anyone else think that 12inches is overkill to see the number youre dialing?

    1. Re:Overkill? by DrEldarion · · Score: 1

      Trust me, 12 inches is never overkill.

    2. Re:Overkill? by op12 · · Score: 1

      Not when you're dialing with Picture-In-Picture :)

    3. Re:Overkill? by ShyGuy91284 · · Score: 1

      Depends, if your dialing an international number, it could get quite long.... Or if you decide to dial in binary.... There's an idea, replace all 12 number keys with just a 1 and a 0....

      --
      In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
    4. Re:Overkill? by Enigma_Man · · Score: 1

      Well, it's a matter of perspective. It's also the equivalent to a 300 foot screen 900 feet away, or a 1 millimeter screen 3 millimeters away. A 1 inch screen on a phone 3 inches away is what this'd look like, which is close, but definitely easy to read.

      -Jesse

      --
      Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
    5. Re:Overkill? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      That, and NTSC / PAL are kind of short changing things for anything other than playing video. That would probably be about VGA resolution, making this no better than any other goggle or eye video device available now. The site linked by the slashvertisement is down, so I am just guessing on this one.

    6. Re:Overkill? by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 1

      12 inches is nothing.

      I can get a 100 inch cell phone screen for 9.99 off eBay using nothing but basic materials available at any hardware store...

      I think they have a website, 100inchcellphonescreen.com or something and the testimonials seem genuine!

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    7. Re:Overkill? by sabit666 · · Score: 1

      12 inch should be enough for everyone!!

  4. Um. by autopr0n · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You'd rather have a huge coax going to your head? If you want I'm sure you can find some conduit or whatever to run it though if you're that scared.

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
    1. Re:Um. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      autopr0n, when the hell are you going to get off your ass and ressurect your site again?

    2. Re:Um. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess it involves huge coax but I don't want to hear more about it.

    3. Re:Um. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Heh. When I was at school, I used to listen to music while walking to/from class. I can't count the number of times I slung my heavy backpack full of math and science textbooks into the car, only to find that I'd accidentally wrapped my extremely resilient headphone cord around one of the straps. Headphone cable came out of the left side, phones wrapped around the back, but the mp3 player was on the right side, because I'm right-handed. Bag moves forward, pulls tough wire tight around neck...GAAK!

      Have since purchased headphones with a breakaway plug in the middle.

      --
      ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
    4. Re:Um. by Abreu · · Score: 1

      Yeah! We want autopr0n!

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    5. Re:Um. by timts · · Score: 0

      why is this worth slashdot? geeks.com has something like this onsale for $149.99 for very long time already.

      I saw similar product a few years ago on magazines, it was $299.99 or so at the time. SONY has a headmount display product as well.

    6. Re:Um. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, I agree.

  5. plus.. by spyder913 · · Score: 4, Funny

    you are immediately qualified to be Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise-D!

  6. Cell Phones and Driving by SeanDuggan · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I thought people using cell phones while driving was a menace before...

    --
    This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
    1. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by elister · · Score: 1

      No doubt, its bad enough as it is watching people in SUVs taking 20 mph turns while talking on the phone, but to have that thing on your head just screams out multiple car collision.

    2. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by nick_davison · · Score: 1

      And I thought people using cell phones while driving was a menace before...

      I wondered how long it would be before the nanny state crowd chimed in.

      This is America. We're supposed to be free. If I want to use my cell phone visor, drink and fire my gun while driving my 3 mpg S.U.V., that's my constitutionally enshrined right. I think it was put there to protect us from the British and is just as valid today as it was 200 years ago! Or something. Anyone who says differently is just plain unpatriotic.

    3. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by Chuqmystr · · Score: 1
      Well, don't worry about it for too much longer, at least here in the US because this is just the first step to Verizon Wireless getting their way. Basically, they want to rule the world and they'll start out by having all of we Americans sitting in wheeled chairs and drooling on ourselves with one of their infernal cellular devices jacked into all of our meat ports. Basically, we will work, receive all of our entertainment, stimuli, needs, through these things and pay like a gazillion dollars a month for our contracts.

      Miss your bill two months in a row 'coz lil' Jimmy burned up the "Every One In The Pool!" account two months ago sending SMSes to all his pals? (yes, SMS will still exist. They'll float in front of your field of vision in VZ-3D! 100 messages for $300, 2000 off peak (1am to 3 am 3rd Sunday of the month and on Ground Hogs day)additional for only $75 more or just get unlimited VZ-3d! texting for $500) Too bad! They pull the plug. Your plugs. All of them. You'll most likely wither and die as you're now cut off from the "world interface" (Denny Striegel strokes his bald cat, lifts the tip of his pinky to the corner of his mouth and lets out a hearty "Muwahahaha!")

    4. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by Ced_Ex · · Score: 1

      So how do you justify that freedom when you turn left right in front of me or change lanes and crash into someone?

      How is your freedom going to protect mine?

      It's not so much a nanny state to screw you out of your freedoms, but to look out for the guy who's not imposing his freedom on others.

      --
      Live forever, or die trying.
    5. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by Charles+W+Griswold · · Score: 1

      It's been said that your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins. I firmly believe that people should have the right to engage in dangerous or self-destructive behaviour. However, when your behaviour starts to endanger other people, that's when it needs to be curtailed. You want to drive your SUV like a maniac down a deserted logging road, fine, but don't do it on the freeway. You want to fire off your arsenal at the local shooting range, no problem, but don't do it in the middle of the residential district. Use some freakin' common sense, people.

      --
      "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber" -- Plato
    6. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by Council · · Score: 1

      Nah, it's fine. Just have the feed from a dashboard camera go to an always-on-top window in the corner of the screen and keep an eye on it.

      Anyone who says that's not perfectly safe is a facist.

      --
      xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
    7. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by rpd10 · · Score: 0

      It's just another step in the evolution of mankind...

    8. Re:Cell Phones and Driving by way2trivial · · Score: 1

      blow his head off with your magnum
      or drive a tank
      or a semi.

      --
      every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  7. Driving Concerns? by graveyardduckx · · Score: 0

    In my state, South Carolina, having a video screen (tv, dvd, etc) is illegal to have in your car if you can see it from the driver seat. Would this make talking on cellphones illegal while driving? I know there are enough idiots around here driving while talking on TWO cell phones. Yes, there are a lot of lawfirms around here.

  8. Article text mirror by Thomas+DM · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Big Screen Viewing Effect For Mobile Phone Videos

    France Telecom's wireless unit, Orange SA, will soon roll out a new mobile video service that will let cellular phone subscribers view TV, movies, photos and broadband Internet content with a big screen viewing effect using Kopin®-enabled video eyewear from U.S.-based MicroOptical Corp. Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN - News), the largest U.S. manufacturer of microdisplays for mobile consumer electronics and military applications, has received an order for CyberDisplay® 230K microdisplays from MicroOptical for this application.

    Orange SA, one of the world's leading wireless companies with 52 million customers in 16 countries, will bundle a MicroOptical binocular video eyewear with Samsung's SGH-D600 cell phone as part of its new "Orange World" wireless multimedia service. The bundled package, unveiled in June 2005 at the European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris, is scheduled to be available to Orange subscribers in October 2005.

    MicroOptical's video eyewear contains two of Kopin's full-color, QVGA-resolution (320 x 240) CyberDisplay 230K microdisplays. The sleek eyewear allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away, yet simultaneously view their surroundings thanks to the small size of the frame and MicroOptical's patented optics which allow the user to see around the screen. Europe's AFP news wire service called the bundled technology "a sure fire hit," saying that the eyewear's "big screen effect" is stunning, especially when combined with built-in stereo earpieces.

    "Kopin CyberDisplays are becoming the standard microdisplays of choice for mobile video applications thanks to their ability to provide the highest video quality in the smallest footprint and with very low power consumption," said Dr. Mark Spitzer, MicroOptical's founder and CEO. "We are very happy with our partnership with Kopin and really excited about being a part of Orange's multimedia wireless service. We are ramping up the production to meet the initial customer demand."

    "The mobile video revolution is unfolding in the cellular phone market as we speak," said Dr. John C.C. Fan, Kopin's president and CEO. "Consumers want to be able to watch movies, music videos and TV, browse the Web and check their e-mail on their cell phones on the go. But the phone's small screen has inhibited widespread consumer adoption. MicroOptical's innovative video eyewear is enabling the big screen capabilities that consumers demand, and yet is very lightweight and similar to eyeglasses."

    The Kopin CyberDisplay 230K's tiny size (0.24-inch diagonal) enabled MicroOptical to design a featherweight (2.5 oz.), comfortable and stylish video eyewear solution for Orange SA. MicroOptical's binocular video eyewear delivers crisp, full-color video with a 17-degree field of view. The eyewear is connected to a cell phone through a thin cable, and allows up to five hours of video with three AAA batteries. Since it accepts composite video input (NTSC or PAL), the eyewear can be plugged into other devices with composite video outputs such as portable DVD players.

    Built with nanotechnology, the CyberDisplay 230K with approximately 230,000 pixel dots in 0.24 diagonal is the highest resolution transmissive display of its size. In addition to displaying standard text and graphics, the display operates at traditional video speeds and consumes only five milliwatts of power. Kopin's power-efficient CyberDisplay 230K is ideal for a range of portable consumer and industrial applications such as video eyewear and viewfinders for digital cameras and camcorders.

    1. Re:Article text mirror by FingerDemon · · Score: 1

      Is anyone else skeptical of the claim "Built with nanotechnology"? I mean I know there are some nanotech applications out there, but they don't brag much about it in their press release. Isn't it pretty rare for a company to actually incorporate nanotech level stuff in a commercial device? Wouldn't that warrant more chest thumping on their part?

      Am I wrong?

      --

      "Contrarily the lookaside buffer might not be the panacea... "
  9. Vision problems by saskboy · · Score: 1

    Remember when your Mom told you not to sit too close the the TV or you'd wreck your vision. Well it's time to start listening to your Mom's advice.

    I won't be surprised when devices like this start wearing out people's eyes.

    And can you imagine the first car wreck from someone using their cell phone in this new manner? And you thought cell phones caused accidents now!

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    1. Re:Vision problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your mom told you not to sit too close to the tv because one day she knew she would like to have grand kids. Got off of /. and stop disappointing her.

    2. Re:Vision problems by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 2, Funny

      You probably sat closer than 3 feet to a monitor larger than 12 inches to type that comment.

    3. Re:Vision problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I don't know about my mom ever telling me that, but you shouldn't post everything your mom tells you on /. especially when she lies to you.


      Momma said, Momma said, Momma said...

  10. One thing missing... by Johnny+Mozzarella · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Head tracking.

    It would be great to have something this small and lightweight if I could use it with games and 3D environments. My current head mounted display with motion tracker weighs several pounds.

    1. Re:One thing missing... by gr8_phk · · Score: 1

      I was thinking the same thing. Forget seeing outside the glasses. Increase the FOV and add a head tracker. Use independant feeds for the 2 displays and call Sony. I'm still waiting for the mass-market VR gear and games that are now practical.

    2. Re:One thing missing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      My current head mounted display with motion tracker weighs several pounds.

      Ray: Did you know the human head weighs eight pounds?

  11. wireless by Ascoo · · Score: 0

    A wireless version would be nice as well as one that well.. didn't make you stand out as much in a crowd.. last thing one needs in a big city is to draw more atttention to the fact that you're wearing a pretty expensive toys...

  12. worse than drunks! by bugnuts · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I have to worry about people having a cellphone stuck to their EYE when driving?

    I can just see the legislators wetting themselves now.

    1. Re:worse than drunks! by lxs · · Score: 2, Funny

      No need to worry. It's a hands free set, so it should be pretty safe to drive while wearing one of these,right?

  13. Big screen? by Roland+Piquepaille · · Score: 2, Insightful

    pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away,

    It's much better than a standard cellphone screen, but it's not what I'd call "big screen". What's more, 320x240 on a 12-inch equivalent screen promises to be grainy...

  14. Marketing.... by B5_geek · · Score: 0

    They should market those things to the Star Trek crowd. Lots of geeks will pay top $ to have a 'functional' visor so they too can look like Geordy. ... All kidding aside, I would rather have a single eye-piece then this wrap-around your head design.

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
    1. Re:Marketing.... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

      All kidding aside, I would rather have a single eye-piece then this wrap-around your head design.

      Apparently it's aimed at people who want to watch movies. I think it'd be very tiresome to watch a movie from one eye only. The binocular display makes sense for this purpose.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Marketing.... by raolin · · Score: 1

      I couldn't agree more. What I'd really find useful is a HUD. My complete geek fantasy right now is a fusion of the subvocal pickup and a HUD. You combine this with a persistant mobile internet connection and you have one hell of a tool.

      --
      "It is sad to see a family torn apart by something as simple as a pack of wild dogs."
    3. Re:Marketing.... by B5_geek · · Score: 1

      You are right. I was just thinking of it as a computer display.

      Here's a great site of information on Head Mounted Displays: http://www.stereo3d.com/hmd.htm#chart

      All I want is some small single screen device that I could use bluetooth to connect my cell & PDA and let me SSH into my boxes. 640x480 should be good enough.
      (hehe I'd even pay more if it had borg-green glowing things on it! )

      --
      "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
    4. Re:Marketing.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/have/look/

    5. Re:Marketing.... by raolin · · Score: 1

      aw come on, some body really should have modded that (A.C.'s reply) as funny.

      --
      "It is sad to see a family torn apart by something as simple as a pack of wild dogs."
  15. Slashdotted already? by RebelScum · · Score: 1

    Five minutes and it's slashdotted already?

  16. Great look! by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

    Yes, because I like looking like a prick. Seriously, make them look like normal glasses or no-one will buy it. Not that I trust wearable screens anyway, it just seems a tad too potentially eye-damaging so I think I will wait for a few years of people burning in the technology..

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
    1. Re:Great look! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Better yet, make them look like sun-glasses. No back-light (use ambient light) and allow augmented-reality things. Don't use this kind of thing for watching videos, use if for overlaying data onto the normal scene.

      And 320x200 on a 12" screen? Reminds me of my first PC...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  17. Error! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fatal error: Call to undefined function: get_bloginfo() in /home/views101/public_html/digitalcamera/wp-includ es/wp-db.php on line 304

  18. I know the best use for it by melikamp · · Score: 1

    Does it mean we can now watch Internet porn while riding public buses and trains? Woohoo!

    1. Re:I know the best use for it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Does it mean we can now watch Internet porn while riding public buses and trains? Woohoo!"

      Heck!!! you can watch porn when you drive...

    2. Re:I know the best use for it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heck!!! you can watch porn when you drive...

      Or play GTA while you drive...

  19. must fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    this device will fail for the same reason any number of similar devices have failed: everyone has a different set of eyes with different focusing characteristics.

    Unless diopter, eye relief, astigmatism, distance to pupil are completely adjustable (making the device unacceptably expensive) this product will literally result in a big headache as your own focussing mechanism attempt to force themselves to adjust.

    1. Re:must fail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think parent poster is right.

      I used a pair of Sony headmounted glasses (Glasstron, see here for an example: http://www.vrealities.com/sony.html) and they worked *terribly*.

      It didn't feel like a 20 ft. projection TV, it looked and felt more like your eyes focued on tiny monitors.

      I tried both the 800x600 VGA input and an NTSC signal.

      Another gimick that just creates environmental waste and pollution.

  20. Hello, Headaches by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Five hours with your eyes focused at two inches away? No thanks.

    --
    This space available.
    1. Re:Hello, Headaches by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Informative
      Five hours with your eyes focused at two inches away? No thanks.


      It does not work that way. The optics adjust the needed eye relief such that the focus distance is a couple of feet - so this is no worse than looking at your monitor.

      That's why these displays aren't just the LCOS display hanging in front of your eyes - you need the lenses to change the focus.
    2. Re:Hello, Headaches by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The optics of this device allow you to look past the location of the physical display. You may have to stare at an imaginary object 3 feet in front of your face to see the image which is located 2 inches from your face.

    3. Re:Hello, Headaches by dballanc · · Score: 1

      When I was back in college I used to work the night shift, and trying to find something 'quiet' to do during days off was hard. I ended up buying a set of i-glasses, which are just a bigger version of what the article is refering too.

      I used them to watch movies, and recorded shows sometimes up to 4 hours at a time with no noticable eye strain.

  21. You call that big? by Bob3141592 · · Score: 1

    Since when is a twelve inch screen from three feet considered big?

    Sometimes, size does matter. This sounds like a disappointment in the making.

    --
    In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
  22. Driving glasses? by comzen · · Score: 1


    Great, now people will be watching movies on their cell phones while driving to work!

    --
    Crunch!
  23. Johnny Quest by qaxzar · · Score: 0

    if only it was green and made of light.... of course then you'd have to deal with the fact that it could kill you if you werent careful. oh well

  24. Driving Concerns put to Rest by SeanDuggan · · Score: 1
    In my state, South Carolina, having a video screen (tv, dvd, etc) is illegal to have in your car if you can see it from the driver seat. Would this make talking on cellphones illegal while driving?

    Only if they're wearing the glasses... at which they've got worse visibility problems than getting distracted by a movie out of the corner of their eye.

    --
    This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
    1. Re:Driving Concerns put to Rest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ...at which they've got worse visibility problems than getting distracted by a movie out of the corner of their eye.

      Unless they're watching Jaws 3D - in which case they might have swerve to avoid a huge damn shark.

    2. Re:Driving Concerns put to Rest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean South Carolina actually is regulating something in/on a vehicle? They don't have inspections, they don't make you wear a motorcycle helmet...the list goes on. I'm surprised that this made it through the ganulet that is personal freedom. Most people can't drive unless they come from another state. They tailgate like NASCAR drivers, they think that it is perfectly acceptable to come to a dead stop to see if this is the road they are supposed to turn on (since SC doesn't seem to know what roadsigns are), they think being in the turn lane gives them the heaven-given right to do whatever they want, and they really don't know how to merge onto interstates. The common saying before I moved here was that northerners drove like crazies (i.e. driving is Boston is a contact sport). I think whoever said that hasn't come here yet.

  25. Won't Somebody Please Think of The Retinas! by mangophreek · · Score: 1

    I really would like to see a study on how this will effect long term vision. I haven't been able to find anything (although, I haven't really tried) on the effects of CRTS vs LCDs in computer use and now the multitude of TV formats. With rapidly changing lights being emitted directly in front of your eyes, this must deal out some serious wear and tear. Any thoughts?

    --
    ~ marko Savic
  26. not sexy by ta+ma+de · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think this may result in the extinction of the human race. This looks so geeky that wearer will never get a date; male or female.

    1. Re:not sexy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      In basic training you get to wear what are known as BC Glasses for Birth Control Glasses... However, as long as there is enough liquor in the world, there will always be sex with ugly people....

  27. Article text incase of /. by B5_geek · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Image mirror: http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/3162/microoptic al2gj.jpg

    France Telecom's wireless unit, Orange SA, will soon roll out a new mobile video service that will let cellular phone subscribers view TV, movies, photos and broadband Internet content with a big screen viewing effect using Kopin®-enabled video eyewear from U.S.-based MicroOptical Corp. Kopin Corp. (Nasdaq: KOPN - News), the largest U.S. manufacturer of microdisplays for mobile consumer electronics and military applications, has received an order for CyberDisplay® 230K microdisplays from MicroOptical for this application.

    Orange SA, one of the world's leading wireless companies with 52 million customers in 16 countries, will bundle a MicroOptical binocular video eyewear with Samsung's SGH-D600 cell phone as part of its new "Orange World" wireless multimedia service. The bundled package, unveiled in June 2005 at the European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris, is scheduled to be available to Orange subscribers in October 2005.

    MicroOptical's video eyewear contains two of Kopin's full-color, QVGA-resolution (320 x 240) CyberDisplay 230K microdisplays. The sleek eyewear allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away, yet simultaneously view their surroundings thanks to the small size of the frame and MicroOptical's patented optics which allow the user to see around the screen. Europe's AFP news wire service called the bundled technology "a sure fire hit," saying that the eyewear's "big screen effect" is stunning, especially when combined with built-in stereo earpieces.

    "Kopin CyberDisplays are becoming the standard microdisplays of choice for mobile video applications thanks to their ability to provide the highest video quality in the smallest footprint and with very low power consumption," said Dr. Mark Spitzer, MicroOptical's founder and CEO. "We are very happy with our partnership with Kopin and really excited about being a part of Orange's multimedia wireless service. We are ramping up the production to meet the initial customer demand."

    "The mobile video revolution is unfolding in the cellular phone market as we speak," said Dr. John C.C. Fan, Kopin's president and CEO. "Consumers want to be able to watch movies, music videos and TV, browse the Web and check their e-mail on their cell phones on the go. But the phone's small screen has inhibited widespread consumer adoption. MicroOptical's innovative video eyewear is enabling the big screen capabilities that consumers demand, and yet is very lightweight and similar to eyeglasses."

    The Kopin CyberDisplay 230K's tiny size (0.24-inch diagonal) enabled MicroOptical to design a featherweight (2.5 oz.), comfortable and stylish video eyewear solution for Orange SA. MicroOptical's binocular video eyewear delivers crisp, full-color video with a 17-degree field of view. The eyewear is connected to a cell phone through a thin cable, and allows up to five hours of video with three AAA batteries. Since it accepts composite video input (NTSC or PAL), the eyewear can be plugged into other devices with composite video outputs such as portable DVD players.

    Built with nanotechnology, the CyberDisplay 230K with approximately 230,000 pixel dots in 0.24 diagonal is the highest resolution transmissive display of its size. In addition to displaying standard text and graphics, the display operates at traditional video speeds and consumes only five milliwatts of power. Kopin's power-efficient CyberDisplay 230K is ideal for a range of portable consumer and industrial applications such as video eyewear and viewfinders for digital cameras and camcorders.

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  28. Audio was bad enough. by Iriel · · Score: 1

    College was already a headache having to listen to people using their brand new cellphones with the latest song from Evanessence(I know I probably hacked the name) as a ringtone alarm clock cranked up to max volume. I hear people still using downloaded songs turned all the way up on their phones that sound like shit with the current quality.

    I have very little hope that video is going to be anything other than the visual equivalent thereof. But at least with this, people can keep it to themselves until they bump into me on the bus.

    --
    Perfecting Discordia
    www.stevenvansickle.com
  29. Headgear by Descalzo · · Score: 1

    Is there any reason why this stuff can't go in something that doesn't make me look like some kind of wacko? If they could put this stuff in a normal-looking set of shades, I could watch Spongebob during my graduate classes!

    --
    I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
  30. One more thing by jfengel · · Score: 4, Informative

    The other thing it's missing is resolution. At 320x240, that's not really enough to see the visual details you'd want if you're going to play the game well.

    Presumably that's part of the reason it is so much smaller and lighter than your present unit (in addition to the lack of motion tracking.)

    1. Re:One more thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, cause Wolf3D ran at 320x200 and NOBODY played that.

    2. Re:One more thing by Gverig · · Score: 3, Informative

      Somebody, please help me... quote 1: "QVGA-resolution (320 x 240)" quote 2: "berDisplay 230K with approximately 230,000 pixel dots in 0.24 diagonal" My calculator says 320*240=76800. Where is the rest 150 000 pixels? You should be able to get almost 600x400 (240 000). Overall, seems like a step in the right direction but still rough around the edges.

    3. Re:One more thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      http://www.emagin.com/3dvisor/html/LearnMore.htm

      800x600
      Motion Tracking
      Under $1000

      No I don't work for them.

    4. Re:One more thing by jfengel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Colors, perhaps? If "230k" pixels means "76k blue pixels, 76k red pixels, and 76k green pixels" that would make the math work. It's not what I call a pixel, but it's exactly the sort of thing that marketing departments are likely to come up with.

    5. Re:One more thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They count R, G, B, as three separate pixels. Cheap tactic to pump up the numbers.

    6. Re:One more thing by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

      The other thing it's missing is resolution.

      The other other thing it's missing is cellular phones that have the processing power to do more than about 10 frames per second of QVGA video at 8-bit color depth. Sure, your Treo may be capable of semi-decent A/V playback, but your kid brother's Ultra-micro-mini-moto isn't and won't be for at least five years.

      And the other other other thing it's missing is compelling cellular-phone video content.

  31. overengineering at its worst by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1


    They could have saved a lot of development work if they had just used a Fresnel lens out of a Crackerjack box instead...

  32. And In Other News by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Funny
    Crapola Technologies 2005 Inc. has announced that they will put out a DVD player that fits in your mouth and a TV set that sits on a pair of wire frames anchored to the back of your skull. The hope is that the 100watt speakers that attach to your ears will be ready by the end of the year.

    "We're opting for a total TV experience in a portable unit that weighs only thirty pounds." Theodore W. Stench-Higgins, president and founder of Crapola Technologies 2005 says. "This won't be like the Internet-connected brassiere that I released just before the Dot-Com bubble. I sure don't want to spend three years in prison for stock fraud again!"

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  33. EyeTap by FleaPlus · · Score: 1

    Hm... I wonder why they don't use a form factor more like the EyeTap. It's far less bulky and you still have one of your eyes available.

    1. Re:EyeTap by jsuarezcasana · · Score: 1

      the other free yeye will distract you from whatever crap are you looking that single screen y more usefull for non-multimedia stuff (maybe the cellphone OS) cool do

      --
      [JL] IH8U
  34. 320 * 240 by wom · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doesn't any one think that 320*240 is way to coarse to watch videos on? And 12 inches at 3 feet? My screen here is 17 inches at about 2 ft. It doesn't seem "Large" to me.

    --
    Trouble, a mistake or fun, your choice
    1. Re:320 * 240 by Chyeld · · Score: 1

      Isn't that close to the natural resolution for OOA broadcasting?

    2. Re:320 * 240 by wom · · Score: 1

      I understand that the NTSC (Preferred Format) uses a 648 by 486 resolution format. (interleaved, but the human video processor fuses the two images (sorta)).

      --
      Trouble, a mistake or fun, your choice
    3. Re:320 * 240 by advocate_one · · Score: 1

      isn't that the default resolution of most porno movie clips that are available for download... not that I have very much personal experience of porno download sites... ;) seems like this "visor" would be perfect for "privately" watching such movie clips...

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
    4. Re:320 * 240 by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

      Yeah, just don't try to grind so much while you're sitting on public transport. People might start getting suspicious.

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  35. More information here... by cliffjumper222 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here's the PDF press release that shows a different view of the headset and some pictures of the Samsung phone. It's in French but pretty easy to understand IMO.

    As this is a PAL/NTSC input device, it'll probably work fine with other phones with video output like the Sharp 902 for viewing videos off its SD card or playing games.

  36. awesome! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They look just like Geordi Laforge's glasses from Star Trek!

    I will wear them when I am driving my Segway.

    Look out chicks, here I come.

  37. Automotive solution? by krell · · Score: 0

    Is this company working on a solution that will have the cell phone to project the movies on the inside of my windshield in my car? It would make a pretty good widescreen display to add cinema to the driving experience.

    --
    Where were you when the voynix came?
  38. Overkill. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    Trust me, 12 inches is never overkill.

    I dunno. I know a fair amount of girls who'd state that it was. Heck a handful of them only had room for about 5...

    1. Re:Overkill. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Phone numbers, please.

    2. Re:Overkill. by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I dunno. I know a fair amount of girls who'd state that it was. Heck a handful of them only had room for about 5...

      Girls lie.

    3. Re:Overkill. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An honest girl will tell you it really doesn't matter, and that it's all about the tongue :P

  39. Size matters by iammaxus · · Score: 1

    A 12" screen at 3 feet is equal in apparent size to a 2" screen from 6". Personally, my 2" screen cell phone does not look terribly impressive from 6".

    Of course, resolution matters, but if they can fit a higher resolution in this tiny display, why not put it on a cell phone?

    1. Re:Size matters by gunnk · · Score: 1

      Your thoughts are running along the same vein as mine, namely:

      Who would watch ANYTHING on a 12-inch screen with only 320x240 resolution three feet away.

      Sounds like an awful user experience to me.

      --
      Life is short: void the warranty.
  40. In other news... by op12 · · Score: 3, Funny

    mugging is up 500%, as many don't even see the attacker coming...

    1. Re:In other news... by thiefius · · Score: 1

      Really, as if lone iPod dude is already super-aware of his surroundings--Better queue up some fight-scene music.

  41. yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No one would notice that you have the dorkiest looking eyewear ever constructed if it wasn't for that blasted cable.

    These things better be peril-sensitive to block out all the ass kickings you'd get wearing them in public.

  42. I don't know about you guys by nihilistcanada · · Score: 1

    But when the first guy who can figure out how to do porn spam for this comes along, I do not want to be anywhere near the roads. On the other hand when this happens I probably won't be leaving my apartment anyway.

  43. Can it do phone stuff? by Jim+Hall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cameras, streaming music, web browsing, PalmOS, txt chat, games ... and now, television. But I wonder how good it is at being an actual phone? You know, the kind we use to make calls.

    I was on campus for a meeting today, and had to make a call on my all-digital phone/camera/appliance. The quality was pretty bad (it would go silent for brief periods, so I missed part of the conversation.) This while I was outside, with 5 bars of signal!

    When I look at all the cool stuff you can do with a mobile phone these days, I'm unimpressed. I just want something that lets me make a clear, uninterrupted phone call.

    1. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by coflow · · Score: 1

      I doubt this will be much better than the crappy pictures you can take with your "camera phone". My personal thought is that this is not terribly useful, since it effectively limits your ability to do other things. The nice thing about a mobile phone is that I can use it while I'm on the go (walking, driving, etc.) I don't know if I could effectively walk down the street while wearing these and watching a movie. So I don't personally see what would make this type of thing attractive; if I'm at home or a pub, there are generally MUCH better quality TVs available.

    2. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by hazzey · · Score: 1

      Exactly.

      Why is it so hard to make phones that other people can hear you with, and you can hear them. In almost every review of cell phones, there is something said about the quality of the sound. This isn't rocket science. You need a speaker that is clear and volume that can be adjusted.

    3. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by BackInIraq · · Score: 1

      Cameras, streaming music, web browsing, PalmOS, txt chat, games ... and now, television. But I wonder how good it is at being an actual phone? You know, the kind we use to make calls.

      It's the Swiss Army Knife mentality. After all, the Swiss Army Knife is one of the best tools in the world, right? A Gerber multitool is an even better example. It can do lots of things passably...but nothing well. Given a choice between a screwdriver and a Swiss Army Knife or Gerber to tighten a screw, I'll go with the screwdriver every time.

      And it's not just phones. I'll take a GameBoy Advance over a PSP any day of the week if I want to actually play games, less power or no. Everybody seems to want the iPod to play movies, act as PDA, and do everything else under the sun...funny, I just want to listen to music on mine.

    4. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by FingerDemon · · Score: 1

      Scientific American had an article in Feb, 2004 about Microelectricalmechanical systems (MEMS) that talked about an innovation of cell phone speakers using technology to make things not quite so small as nanotech but still way better than the current technology. It sounded like the technology would make better cell phone speakers in a year or so, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

      Here's the link. article If that link doesn't work (it has some session stuff in it that might break outside of my browser) just search Scientific American for cell phone speakers. It is the highest relevant link from the search.

      --

      "Contrarily the lookaside buffer might not be the panacea... "
    5. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by bill_kress · · Score: 1

      Well, as long as YOU keep buying the feature-rich expensive phones that don't work, I guess they will keep making them.

    6. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by xenoandroid · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough my last phone upgrade had most of those features you mentioned and works better as an actual phone than the less feature rich one I had before (black and white screen with green backlighting and could only text/web in addition to making calls). In fact the battery life is better.

      What brand of phone do you have?

    7. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by orasio · · Score: 1

      "When I look at all the cool stuff you can do with a mobile phone these days, I'm unimpressed. I just want something that lets me make a clear, uninterrupted phone call."

      You are supposed to buy what you do want, not what you don't want.
      There are phones that do work.
      Buy them.
      Don't buy the ones that don't.

      There's this thing, the Internet, where you can search for other peoples views on phone models, so you can get what you need.
      Just buying the latest models, just won't work.
      Companies sell what people buy. If you are willing to buy shit, they will sell shit, with a ribbon on top. It's you fault, not theirs.

    8. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by WareW01f · · Score: 2

      I use to travel in circles where reliability was compared to the dial tone of a phone... when you pick it up, it was always there. (of course except for midnight on Dec 31, 1999 when everyone picked up the phone at once to test just that, doh!)

      My theory is that the people on the computer side, realizing that it was not in fact possible to move up to that level, instead opted to bring phone quality down to a more acceptable level. And the "smartphone" was born....

    9. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's because you are an old bastard. or, not a very cool one. get off your horse, and enjoy the fact that these things are super cool. like it or not, and FYI.. your phone conversation is obsolete.. you should have been txt'ing the person.

    10. Re:Can it do phone stuff? by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

      Congrats on your copy and paste effort. You got a surprising number of replies for such a cliche comment. And the story wasn't even about a phone this time, which has gotta be worth bonus points!

      --
      Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  44. +Funny by handy_vandal · · Score: 1

    But when the first guy who can figure out how to do porn spam for this comes along, I do not want to be anywhere near the roads. On the other hand when this happens I probably won't be leaving my apartment anyway.

    Made me laugh!

    -kgj

    --
    -kgj
  45. Mod parent insightful by op12 · · Score: 1

    With all the new features, you'd think they could improve reception to something reasonable all the time.

  46. IMAX movies make me want to puke by rerunn · · Score: 2, Insightful


    Having larger than life moving pictures in front of me makes me really motion sick.

    I'm guessing that these things will have similar effects.

    1. Re:IMAX movies make me want to puke by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Informative
      Having larger than life moving pictures in front of me makes me really motion sick.


      That is one of the things that displays like this are very GOOD for - they don't induce motion sickness as much as an IMAX would.

      The problem with IMAX is that your entire visual field is filled with the movie - your eyes tell you "we are moving" and your inner ear says "bull! We are sitting still." This confusion of input overstimulates the vestibular system, and Ralf's your uncle.

      With head mounted displays like this, you see the real world around you as well as the display - so your eyes no longer indicate you are moving, but report "This object in my view is moving - we are stationary." Your inner ear agrees, and you don't get sick.

      This is also why people are advised in IMAX theaters to look at their feet if they get sick - this brings your eyes and inner ear into sync again. The problem is that too many people don't keep looking at their feet until they are fully resynced.
    2. Re:IMAX movies make me want to puke by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Of course, that's the whole reason some people (namely me) even go to Imax films.. and forget these big square things everyone thinks is imax. They're just big movie screens. visit the Museum of Science in Boston, MA for their Mugar Omni Imax Theater.. nearly full FOV wraparound screen.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    3. Re:IMAX movies make me want to puke by wowbagger · · Score: 1

      Actually, the big square things *are* IMAX.

      The domes are OmniMAX.

      Unfortunately, the number of films that are really shot for OmniMAX vs. the number of films shot for IMAX is such that even OmniMAX domes usually run IMAX films with a special lens that *almost* gets the job done.

      I wish we'd see more real OmniMAX films.

  47. Another Stupid Thing to Wear by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Has anyone thought of what electric fields do to your body?

    I mean, there are scientific studies out there that already say using a cellphone will give you cancer. So if we pair our cellphone with the tv set that you wear on your face along with our ipod and laptop over our shoulder plus interference from metal detectors and WAPs...How much can the body take before it melts back into primordial goo?

    Besides, didn't these inventors ever have mothers yelling that they were sitting to close to the television and that they would go blind but still have to go to school and explain to their teacher that they didn't complete their spelling words because He-Man was on?

    And how many car accidents do we think this will cause? Anyone care to wager if it will outdo AIDS or Drunk-Driving related deaths?

    1. Re:Another Stupid Thing to Wear by coflow · · Score: 1

      Are there really scientific studies that claim this? I *thought* the cell phone giving you cancer was more of a myth than a real study.

  48. 2015 - ocular impants by davidwr · · Score: 2, Funny

    Monday, July 13, 2015
    Ocular Biometrics and Mobile Hemogony proudly announce Private Video Viewing, an enhancement to Ocular Biometrics's patented computer-vision-lens implant techology. Private Video Viewing allows broadcast of highly-encrypted ultra-def television directly to the eye.

    Friday, July 11, 2025
    Bioneural Telecom proudly FDA approval of Very Private Video Viewing, a broadcast television service directly to the brain using a very small implant. Implantation takes about 15 minutes, with starting prices of $5000 per implant. Prices should fall over the next few years.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  49. Very LaForge by JamaisVu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Butterfly in the sky
    I can go twice as high
    Take a look
    It's in a book
    A Reading Rainbow

    I can go anywhere
    Friends to know
    And ways to grow
    A Reading Rainbow

    I can be anything
    Take a look
    It's in a book
    A Reading Rainbow
    A Reading Rainbow

    --
    "When the solution is simple, God is answering." -- Albert Einstein
  50. The way of the future, just a ways off by Starji · · Score: 2, Informative

    I recently finished William Gibson's Bridge Series and have been thinking, "Why can't I have a head mounted display like those eyephones for my laptop instead of a screen?"

    The answer is of course, money, resolution and power. I did, however, find one HMD that looks like it has some potential. http://www.emagin.com/3dvisor/html/LearnMore.htm 800x600 resolution,relatively low power consumption (powered by the USB port), and relatively cheap (900 bucks, out of my range, but it's better than a lot of HMDs out there).

    In some ways HMD's make more sense than standard LCD screens. OLED displays for both eyes would (I think) take less power than a full 12-17 inch LCD screen, plus give you better immersion with whatever you're doing (VR desktops anyone?). If they can get the resolution on these up to 1024x768, 24 bit color, and about 500 bucks, I won't be suprised if I start seeing them around in lieu of LCDs.

    1. Re:The way of the future, just a ways off by cr0sh · · Score: 1
      That emagin HMD isn't too bad for a consumer level HMD. The price is pretty steep, but considering the specs, it really isn't out of line. I don't really like the 40 degree FOV (I prefer a fully immersive experience, but you need to have a FOV of 60 *minimum* to start), but they probably had to do that for resolution reasons (as your FOV goes up, your resolution goes down - the pixels are spread out more - kinda akin to pixelation in an image, although that analogy isn't really accurate). The size, the resolution, plus the fact that you get a nice 3DOF head tracker (I have seen these as "bare boards" going for $300.00) - it really is a pretty good deal.

      So - ask yourself what you will be needing such a device for: Are you going to watch videos? Play games? Develop immersive applications?

      If simple private video watching is all you will be doing, then getting an HMD with these specs or something similar (don't go below around 30 degree FOV) is perfect. If, however, you want to do VR or gaming, look for something with a larger FOV to enhance the immersion aspects. Unfortunately, unless you are doing hardcore virtual environment research, you won't be able to justify higher resolution - a high resolution, large FOV HMD still runs into big $$$, unless you manage to find one second hand (and they are a rare treat to see on ebay!).

      I would check on Ebay every now and then as well. I see every now and again older (ie, mid-late 1990's) pro and research level VR devices (mostly HMDs, but sometimes some Polhemus tracking products) - and sometimes, nobody bids on them! One year at Christmas I managed to snag a General Reality CyberEye CE-200M with a 3DOF tracker for around $200.00 - while everyone else was bidding up several Forte VFX-1 HMDs that other people were selling. I guarantee you I got the better deal!

      So - look around. You might also investigate building your own HMD. It won't be easy, it may not be cheap (though likely cheaper than a retail device), and it will probably weigh more and look like *ss - but you will get a /. article out of it!

      I have thought from time to time if I could create a fairly replicable way to build such an HMD, and set up a site like the LumenLab site (for homebrew video projectors), I could probably have something cool that people would like. Alas, I have waaaay too many projects to count to take on another - but the idea is there for someone else to try!

      --
      Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  51. Not a story. A commercial. by CrayzyJ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "a big screen viewing effect"
    "sleek eyewear"
    "large-size video"
    "delivering crisp, full-color video"
    "thin cable"
    "up to five hours of video with three AAA batteries."

    Clarinase has a knack for marketing speak. This was an AD, not a story. Is /. embedding ads in the context now?

    --
    Holy s-, it's Jesus!
    1. Re:Not a story. A commercial. by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      "Clarinase has a knack for marketing speak. This was an AD, not a story. Is /. embedding ads in the context now? "

      You must be new here. News for Nerds. Slashvertisements that most assuredly were paid for.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  52. Biztalk by odourpreventer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Built with nanotechnology

    Is this the birth of yet another buzzword?

  53. Better than the latest asshole trend on airlines by wsanders · · Score: 1

    Although I only fly 1 or 2 times per year, much to my annoyance the latest trend, at least on the Southwest Airlines run between Oakland and Houston last weekend, is to have multiple cheapo DVD players, the kind that look like little laptops, and play them at FULL BLAST through the F***ING SPEAKERS. There were at least two of these things going within earshot on each leg of the trip.

    Please make these glasses cheap and easily affordable as soon as possible for these retards.

    On the other hand, brand new 737s with 33 inch seat pitch. Yee haw!

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
  54. PR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    slashdot is officially the biggest tech PR firm there is. Who screens these submissions?

    1. Re:PR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      uhm, what else do nerds what to hear about other than technology?

  55. Can you say... by 42Penguins · · Score: 1

    borg?

  56. wrong by oGMo · · Score: 1
    this device will fail for the same reason any number of similar devices have failed: everyone has a different set of eyes with different focusing characteristics.

    Other devices have failed because they're bulky, expensive, and crappy. This pair doesn't look bulky, although there is little comment on price and the resolution isn't great, so we'll see.

    Unless diopter, eye relief, astigmatism, distance to pupil are completely adjustable (making the device unacceptably expensive) this product will literally result in a big headache as your own focussing mechanism attempt to force themselves to adjust.

    Yes, despite an operating budget of millions and multiple engineers on the job, I'm sure they've overlooked what a random anonymous slashdotter came up with 9 minutes after the post.

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    1. Re:wrong by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1

      Yes, despite an operating budget of millions and multiple engineers on the job, I'm sure they've overlooked what a random anonymous slashdotter came up with 9 minutes after the post.

      I didn't see any quotes from a staff optometrist, opthalmologist, or even optician in that press-release-masquerading-as-news. If I had to guess, I would hazard a guess that their operating budget of millions (madeupnumber) does not include such an expert on payroll.

    2. Re:wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Engineers do what their bosses tell them to do. I don't know what line of bullshit university is feeding you, but I have a feeling the real world will be rough for you...

  57. 3D Applications? by Badfysh · · Score: 1

    If you could devise a way to send a slightly different image to each screen I bet you could get some wicked cool 3D images..

    --

    I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.

    1. Re:3D Applications? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Yes, 3D pron! I'm getting one of these babies

  58. Not really mobile, is it? by end3rtm · · Score: 1

    Unless that thing folds up to a pocketsize (like those Sony over the head headphones), why would anybody carry this around? What's the point of watching video on your cellphone using a goggle piece when the goggle is almost as big as a portable PMP that you can carry around?

  59. Laugh it up, fuzz ball. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see how funny you think this is when you turn 40.

    Seems like forever away, doesn't it? That's just what it wants you to think and the suddenly; Wham! You are the old codger that you always ridiculed.

  60. worse, naked hairy protestors will appear by wsanders · · Score: 1

    http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/1 0/1543214&tid=126&tid=14

    You will then be grateful for the technology, if only to block your field of view...

    --
    Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
  61. Long Term Effects by Thanatopsis · · Score: 1

    Is it just me or does any one worry about the long term effects on your eyes? I mean no knows the effects and I cannot imagine that it's good for the eyes.

  62. QVGA by sacrilicious · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Slashdot leader:
    delivering crisp, full-color video with a 17-degree field of view.
    Article:
    MicroOptical's video eyewear contains two of Kopin's full-color, QVGA-resolution (320 x 240) CyberDisplay 230K microdisplays.
    Just pointing out that QVGA is only a quarter of the res of a TV screen. Sounds like a step back in that regard.
    --
    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
    1. Re:QVGA by DevNova · · Score: 1

      Quarter the resolution of a computer monitor, maybe, but not a televison screen. At most, a television image has 240 lines of resolution (closer to 200 after VBI and closed captioning lines), so the resolution of these glasses should be pretty close to broadcast television.

    2. Re:QVGA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heaven save us from people who think they know what they're talking about. Look, assmonkey, video is interlaced. So you have 525 vertical lines. Also, "lines of resolution" has nothing to do with vertical lines.

  63. video game glasses by beowulfy · · Score: 1

    I remember when this was supposed to be the next big thing for portable video games. Probably around the same time that the whole 'virtual reality' thing was big.

    --
    "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -Hunter S. Thompson
  64. Re:Article text mirror... if the rez improves... by HungWeiWeiHai · · Score: 1

    These could have some real military applications. Imagine if this kind of stuff were aboard the helo that was shot down in Afghanistan last week. Those guys could have had 3-D, 360-degree situational awareness.
    It's a freakin' shame that with all the lives being risked to rescue expensively-trained operatives that there doesn't appear to have been any satellite tasking to link the helo and the extraction team to the terrain imagery.

    Yes, I know the "birds" have limited fuel and such, but with the US presence in the ME so intense, what's the added expense of a dedicated bird?

  65. Decade-old news by dazedNconfuzed · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Gee whiz, this technology has, on the whole, been around for over a decade. The Virtual iGlasses did this way back when with the same resolution (in stereo!) and optional head-tracking. I'll grant that these are about 1/4th the weight and size, and run on less power - but I seriously expected we'd have near 10x the pixels displayed from a 1cc unit clipped to my glasses frame by now, and that for about $100.

    Optics just hasn't kept up with computing. Some breakthrough is needed to give a 1" display a 3' eye relief just 1/2" from the eye - and do it in 0.5oz.

    Head-mounted displays are just stuck on something. Lots 'o bucks to whoever figures out and solves it.

    --
    Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
  66. GOOD video glasses? by jaredcat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've seen at least 6 or 7 different video glasses advertised since the late 90's (there's one currently in SkyMall too), but the real question for me is, are any of them halfway decent?

    My primary application would be using my laptop on an airplane or at a Starbucks without having everyone around me seeing whats on my screen.

    I think GOOD video glasses should:
    - give me at least 800x600 res in 16bit color
    - VGA, SVIDEO, and composite inputs
    - simulate a screen size of at least 30"
    - have option for opaque or translucent background
    - not look completely ridiculous
    - price point under $600

    I've seen glasses that do some of the above, but I've never seen a pair that matches all of my criteria.

    Has anyone had experience with devices like this? Any recommendations?

    1. Re:GOOD video glasses? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emagin 3dVisor

      Oled Display
      800x600
      ecc ecc

      But you will have to pay 899$

    2. Re:GOOD video glasses? by SiliconEntity · · Score: 3, Informative

      I got mail over the weekend announcing the imminent shipping of the eMagin Z800 3D Visor, which looks pretty nice but is expensive. 800x600 OLED display (in stereo!), a 40 degree field of view ("equivalent of a 105 inch screen at 12 feet"), and an integrated headtracker. You can literally be inside the game, turn your head left and right, up and down, and see what's there, with standard games like UT, HL2 and Doom3, and an NVIDIA graphics card.

      It sounds pretty cool, but here's the bad news: $899. Ouch. They offered me $50 off because I pre-registered for information but that's way too steep for me.

    3. Re:GOOD video glasses? by AuraOfDeath · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How about one of these ? http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-97.html Price point is $649.00 which is near your limit. Though slightly above. Not completely rediculous.. but you lose the whole Laforge look I'm afraid... It's not the same type of device in the OP but I'm sure someone could make it work :)

    4. Re:GOOD video glasses? by daevux · · Score: 1

      The last item is the kicker (when combined with 16bit color). http://www.tekgear.com/index.cfm?pageID=2&section= 83&function=viewproducts&nodelist=1,83 has some cool stuff, though. My AI professor at GaTech, Thad Starner, who is one of the leading pioneers in wearable computing (or so he says), uses the MicroOptical CV-3, iirc. He even wears it while teaching.

  67. all tripped up... by dotmax · · Score: 1

    Is it morally wrong to trip some asshole wandering around with one of these things stuck to their face?

    mmmmm....no.

  68. Boooo!!!!! by plasticpixel · · Score: 1

    Boo! Hiss!

    This crap isn't any better than what I could buy ten years ago. Quarter VGA? Blow me Kopin.

    Remember the VR craze around 1995? I worked with Kopin and other HMD products ten years ago that were the same experience and they sucked back then too.

    Where's the 1920x1080 headmounted displays that also wrap the video around to create that truely immersive viewing experience.

    Why do these display companies actually think consumers are giong to buy this stuff if they keep rehashing it without making real imporvements?

    Two thumbs down!

    1. Re:Boooo!!!!! by Hymer · · Score: 0

      "Why do these display companies actually think consumers are giong to buy this stuff if they keep rehashing it without making real imporvements?"
      You have answered this question yourself... the answer is in the question.
      Customers are not customers anymore... they are consumers... The difference is that consumers will brainlessly consume anything the manufacturers deliver...

  69. Marketing Campaign... by aardwolf64 · · Score: 1

    You too can look like Jordy LaForge with Kopin CyberDisplay video eyewear!

  70. wear this while riding a Segway... by kencurry · · Score: 1

    And you will instantly qualify for lifetime dork status.

    --
    sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
  71. ahhh privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    now I can watch pron in private on the subway.

  72. And you wear these with glasses how? by greenmars · · Score: 1

    I'm looking at the pictures and I don't see how you'd wear these with glasses. Approximately 1/3 of Americans wear glasses, so I'd think this would be a consideration.

    1. Re:And you wear these with glasses how? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have an awesome idea about how people with poor eyesight could use headsets like these! By shrinking the lens of one's glasses down to the size of the eye itself, you could mount it much closer to the eye and make room for the headset! You could even put the lens in the eye itself, perhaps using some sort of flexible, air-permeable membrane.

      In fact, why just use these if you want a headset? I think these in-eye lenses could replace glasses for all kinds of people who don't want to deal with big, bulky lenses and frames!

  73. When will these people learn we don't want goggles by TheBlunderbuss · · Score: 0

    So they're not entirely goggles, but it's still cumbersome. Not to mention you have to take off any prescription spectacles to use it. A fool and his money..

  74. These will be standard issue soon. by Lockelator · · Score: 1

    Basically, cell phones are morphing into wearable computers. When the resolution on the head-display increases, and the speed of the cpu increases, we'll see everything through a mediated heads-up display.

  75. Star trek by chrisnewbie · · Score: 1

    Now that's one inventor that was too influenced by lt. laforge in star trek: the next generation.

    What next? cybernetic eyes that can play video inside your retina? what if it skips?

  76. What's with low res devices? by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1
    Why is it that people are so fixated on screen size? Everywhere you see "15 inch screen" or "3.3 inch LCD" and nowhere do they mention the resolution; mostly it's because they're low resolution screen!

    Which brings me to the point: What is it with low-res devices? 320x200 is bearly enough to run a simple contact manager, let alone do any useful work. If your eyes are too bad to see a 2.5" screen at 320x200, get glasses! Or, just enlarge the font. It looks more crisp and easy to read anyway.

    And stop buying low-res devices, or that's all companies will produce!

    How many 640x480 PDAs are there these days? 3? 4?

    /rant off.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
  77. Bollocks to video and crappy mp4 downloads $/view by tod_miller · · Score: 1

    Slap one of these into a Sony OQO, running linux. Get rid of the star trek look to them (I am sure they can be engineered to look like shades) and allow you to view past the display area, you could have an instant on viewer/HUD.

    That would rox0r! lets hope they give these away for free if you buy into some ludicrous DRM'd tie in packages, and someone hacks them to give us great on the fly experiences.

    I would use one of these instead of a monitor or LCD... just sit in a large leather sofa, with two handheld 'keysticks' (or joyboards) which allow full 104 key input with just your digits on both hands (like playing a sax, or clarinet... or some weird hybrid geek keyboard).

    Not wearable computing, no, that is a ghey word, but ERGONOMIC computing. Don't sit at your desk, bring your desk to you. I think hands free was the first baby step in this whole thing.

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  78. Hi Roland, by tod_miller · · Score: 1

    Anyway, it gives the effect of a 12" screen, it will look old sk00l, I'd like to play DoTT on this.

    No worries about people driving with these on - they can just have google minimap, combined with yahoo traffic, in a small window alerting them if they need to break or change lane. Should be safe... erp.

    fuck-tard.

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  79. Problems by jinzumkei · · Score: 1

    As if we didn't already have enough problems with people driving and talking on their cellphones, let's find more ways to distract people driving 2 tons of steel rolling at 55+ mph.

  80. Obvious question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How much?

  81. so? by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    ...allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away...

    So?
    My current phone does this, I simply hold the screen 3" from my eye. Works perfectly, but it does look a little funny.

    --
    -Styopa
  82. new style but "Nanotech"??!! by isdale · · Score: 1

    The Orange SA/Kopin displays look stylish, have to see them in person to give em a real Human Factors review. The wearability of Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) has been one of their major downfalls in the past. These seem pretty light weight, etc. May not need *much* behind the ears to hold em in place.

    The QVGA resolution is a drawback - sure this is near what the PSP does, but that is hardly a 12" screen. True viewable quality remains to be seen (siggraph?)

    What really tweaked me on this is calling it 'nanotechnology'. High density AMLCD is a neat tech, but is this really working at the nanometer scale?

  83. Seen this before; there was a slight problem by Digital+Pizza · · Score: 1
    About seven years ago I visited my girlfriend's family in Japan; while there, we visited the Sony building in Osaka, where they had a lot of new technology on display. One item of great interest to me was a set of glasses like these that attached to a portible DVD player, and make the screen appear as if it were a big screen tv across the room. I watched part of "Terminator" on it and thought it was way cool.

    For a year of two after that I wondered why those glasses still hadn't shown up for sale anywhere, until I found out that a significantly large percentage of users developed splitting headaches after a while of using them, so much so that Sony pulled them from the market. I don't know if these will fare any better.

    (Maybe I'll check ebay to see if any of those old Sony classes have shown up there; I'm willing to take the risk.)

    --
    We apologize for the inconvenience.
    1. Re:Seen this before; there was a slight problem by Plural+of+Mongoose · · Score: 1

      The Sony Glasstron is no longer being manufactured or supported according to this site, which still has some for sale.

      --
      The last fucking thing you want is my undivided attention...
    2. Re:Seen this before; there was a slight problem by Digital+Pizza · · Score: 1
      The Sony Glasstron is no longer being manufactured or supported

      Yeah, that was my point - it gave too many users splitting headaches, so Sony pulled them.

      Thanks for the link - they're still way more than I'd be willing to pay though.

      --
      We apologize for the inconvenience.
  84. Icuity M920 by lonedfx · · Score: 1

    By a funny coincidence, I received my Icuity M920-Video monocular today, it's supposed to be giving you a 17" screen size 11 feet away.

    I like it a lot, but the whole 'equivalent to N inches X feet away' is a bit misleading... Sure, if you compare sizes directly to a physical device, you'll get that size, but when you use it, it actually looks like what it is, a tiny screen looked at up close (although of course you're not focusing just a few inches away, that'd be quite unusable).

    If you have a use for this kind of devices, then by all means, get one, you will not be disapointed, but if you're hoping to replace your laptop screen with it, think again, I'd watch a movie on my laptop over one with the eyewear anytime.
    This being said, monocular and binoculars are quite different things, and it's probably easier to watch a movie on a binocular simply because your entire field of vision is taken by the image, rather than shared between it and the real world (which is what I needed), so perhaps this thing works great. On the other hand, if I'm going to sit down anyway, I'll use my laptop, that'll give me great picture quality and I wont be oblivious to what's happening around me. The concept of using a device that forces you to remain stationary and blocks your entire field of vision, along with a cell phone seems a bit silly to me.
    lone.

  85. Better than Viagra! by joelsanda · · Score: 1

    Wow ... go from one to 12 inches at a distance of three feet?

    --
    The Luddites were ahead of their time.
  86. Re:Article text mirror... if the rez improves... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, if only the military had heard of this technology sooner. They would never think of something as complex as helmet mounted displays on their own.

    http://www.ascension-tech.com/applications/militar y.php
    http://mae.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cf m?ARTICLE_ID=231330&p=32

    And really, building this display unit and launching the "bird" is the only hard part. Integrating 3D satellite imagery with the flight control and display system in combat situations and high RF jamming environments is childs play, so these low-res consumer grade glasses are the missing piece that the military has been waiting for!

    Let's send a few of these glasses over to the boys in Afghanistan to prevent any further crashes!

  87. They don't have to lie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you're out of room, you're out of room.

    *thump*
    Girl: "Ouch! My cervix!"

    You can buy doughnuts that slip around the shaft to shorten the available length for this reason.

    1. Re:They don't have to lie by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 1

      I know the stereotypes are unfair and a lot of us have got laid, but Slashdotters talking about vaginal dimensions feels as uncomfortable as your sister asking you your favourite position.

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    2. Re:They don't have to lie by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1

      Married for 20 years with 2 kids. Yes, I am an old fart (nick is NOT Cpt_Pic).

  88. Cost? by eno2001 · · Score: 1

    Nice article, but it would have been nice if they had included the projected cost. I'm willing to be this will be, yet another, in the long line of failures from the technology industry where wearble displays are concerned. Personally, I won't be interested until it has the following features:

    1. 1900x1400 resolution
    2. 32-bit colour
    3. Five day battery life (in sleep mode) with a charging cradle
    4. Bluetooth connectivity to anything (look ma, no wires!)
    5. 5.1 surround sound
    6. Contact lens form factor (with audio interface through eyes via vibration)
    7. Augmented Reality overlay features
    8. $299.95 at NewEgg.com

    Until then, I'm happy with a laptop. (Oh yeah... I HATE cell phones. Why have all those useless features in a phone when they still can't f*cking hold a phone conversation with decent audio quality!!)

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  89. The solution for car safety is simple by suitepotato · · Score: 1

    An open and widely adopted standard for interfacing cell phones to cars for information interchange specifying methods, fields, quantities, etc. You drop your phone in a cradle made for it that interfaces to your nav computer and the windscreen HUD shows only what is necessary, nothing to distract.

    Better yet would be advanced speaker-independent voice recognition. So far, my phone is inaccurate more then 75% of the time.

    --
    If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
  90. Those are subpixels by Urusai · · Score: 1

    Calling the blue element a pixel is fraudulent, pure and simple.

    1. Re:Those are subpixels by orasio · · Score: 1

      Those are pixels, if you are talking about LCDs.
      Native pixels if you like, but there are 230k pixels with no difference among them but the tint that covers them.
      You need 230k pixels, divided in three colors, to make a 320x240 LCD picture.
      As long as they state the actual usable color resolution, it's ok that they also state the native pixel count they use to achieve 320x240xcolor.

  91. Big screen? by mikehunt · · Score: 1

    Look, I don't know where the article submitter, or for that matter, the editors have been living, but in my world, even a 32" screen from six feet away is hardly "large".

    But then again, at the stated resolution (320 x 240), I'm not really sure I want to see this on any size of display!!

  92. Its actually the equivalent of a 600 foot screen by popo · · Score: 1

    ... seen from half a mile away... ...but who's measuring?

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
  93. 12" from 3 feet away? by MeatNoodle · · Score: 1


    Jeez, that's hardly impressive size wise.

    Take your 15" laptop and set it 3 feet away from you. Does that look impressive to you? Hardly... and that's with a display that's 3" larger than what this thing claims to do.

    P.

    --
    "That's exactly what I said, only different."
  94. Price? Importing One? by niteware · · Score: 1

    Yes, the resolution sucks when compared to $2k-4k USD headset versions, but what will the cost of the phone and headset be?

    The SGH-D600 phone is basically a 80MB mp3/video player with a 2MP camera and a cell phone in there somewhere also ;-). Transflash based (up to 512mb) so $40 USD/256MB card is not too bad (are 512mb Transflash even available?). So the phone will not be entry-level, but again what is the cost?

    If we are talking less then $500, then I'll be trying to import one to the US (unlocked of course, it's tri-band so T-Mobile, etc......), $500 to a grand, I'll wait for them to show up on ebay, over a grand and I just don't see the EU market buying the package or me...

    Orange had released press info on this like two weeks ago, and one of the EU-based write-ups stated they are looking at selling a million of these things (over what time frame?) but I still really would like to see the euro sticker price is going to be...

  95. nano? by phoric · · Score: 1

    So I guess 'nanotechnology' is now a marketing buzzword?

  96. I Prefer by triso · · Score: 1

    Personally, I prefer a Fresnel lens on an adjustable frame attached to my phone. At least you only have to turn your head when driving. Wearing "Geordi" goggles on the trek to work looks dangerous to me.

  97. I have tried this. :( by mr_luc · · Score: 1

    I had a pair of Sennheisers that I tried this with, with disastrous results.

    Firstly ... the really thin cord once left me with a bright purplish-red birthmark-looking thing all the way around my neck. It looked like someone tried and failed to decapitate me, which I guess is true enough.

    Secondly ... the other thing that happens often with a really light, thin wire is that it snaps. You sit down on a bench, it's dropping down a bit, someone walks by, it snags on their coat and *chik* NO AUDIO AAAAAAAAGH M###ER F###ER[1]!!!

    I think that a REAL innovation -- and maybe this exists, but if so it's not widespread -- would be elastic audio cables. Stretchy cables. Why aren't these common? Assuming sufficient stretchability, I have to believe that such cables would all but eliminate both of the problems listed above.

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    [1] MOTHER FATHER, guttermind.

    1. Re:I have tried this. :( by hcdejong · · Score: 1

      Coiled cables are common for full-size headphones, IDK why they aren't used on earbuds (maybe because a coiled cable is bulkier than a traight cable).
      Elastic cable doesn't exist because conducting materials aren't very elastic.

  98. Ah, old tech, new life by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    I remember when we bought these things 20 years go, and called them 'vrglasses'.

    Sure, a bit more advanced. But it goes to show you, the more we think we change, the more we repeat history.

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    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  99. That's Nothing! The Z800 has twice the resolution! by DUG1138 · · Score: 1

    "...the equivalent of a 105-inch movie screen viewed at 12 feet." http://www.emagin.com/3dvisor/

  100. Ah, genius! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This + Real Life Tron! I can see it all now... '...Hundreds of geeks on bicycles have been hit by cars playing real life tron...'

  101. Nice picture... by theheff · · Score: 0

    but ironically, those glasses will never be touched by anybody that good-looking.

  102. Sony glasstron ? by for_usenet · · Score: 1

    Anyone remember those - they were pretty neat for their time (~ 5 years ago, IIRC). Either 640x480 or 800x600. Pretty pricey, but one would have hoped that with the rest of advances in tech, packaging would have become more sleek, features improved, and prices would have come down ...

    I made the comment a while back that these things would probably be a boon for laptop battery life ...

  103. Laser? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
    I remember a few years ago seeing one of the guys at the MIT Media Lab with a wearable display that was basically a tiny laser that wouldn't harm the eyes mounted on a regular pair of glasses. The laser was TINY and projected a huge screen onto the retina. Why hasn't that been commercialized yet?

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    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  104. real problem facing visual gadgets by wjzhu · · Score: 1

    The majority of potential users are slashdotters, most likely wearing glasses to begin with. How will they address the problem without demanding everyone to switch to contacts?

  105. Wireless? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    QVGA 24FPS 16bpp is 29Mbps - MPEG might put that to under 3Mbps. Can the new Bluetooth handle that bandwidth? Maybe if they used a VNC "delta" type protocol...

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    make install -not war

  106. I have a PowerBook G4 12" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sitting with a 12" laptop 3 feet away from me and I'm fine...

  107. It's the sex stupid. by CaptDeuce · · Score: 1
    This sleek eyewear allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away, delivering crisp, full-color video with a 17-degree field of view.

    When having sex with your partner, why just imagine the partner you'd rather be having sex with? Though considering the usual slashdot crowd, it makes a great PPDD (portable porn display device).

    --
    "Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein