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Linux-Based PMP Features Head-Up Display

nerdyH writes "A new Linux-based portable media player (PMP) features an eyeglass-like head-mounted display with 800 x 600 resolution. Dreamax's Indicube i-800 PMP provides an experience similar to sitting two meters away from a 54-inch screen, the vendor claims. It uses an 0.44-inch eMagin OLED display, claimed to offer the smallest pixel pitch in the industry."

43 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Cool.... by The_Fire_Horse · · Score: 5, Funny

    porn on the train at last (and this time without angry guards and annoyed passengers)

    1. Re:Cool.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'm pretty sure they'll still notice you jamming your fist into your crotch.

    2. Re:Cool.... by sholsinger · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ouch! Be careful when attempting parent's suggestion.

    3. Re:Cool.... by numbware · · Score: 5, Funny

      "jamming your fist into your crotch"

      I think you're doing it wrong.

      --
      I'm going to go create my own technology news site, with blackjack and hookers. You know what? Forget the news site.
  2. Are they selling these separately? by m50d · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've wanted something like this to use with my PDA for some time.

    --
    I am trolling
    1. Re:Are they selling these separately? by jftitan · · Score: 2, Funny

      wow thanks. now I have thst image in my head... if only I could go back in time, to scratch my eyes out before.... wait... time paradox.... hmmmm I'll have to discover the code...... heheheheh heh.

      --
      "Don't Forget to Salt the Fries"
  3. My Prediction by DannyO152 · · Score: 5, Funny

    2008 will be the year of the Linux Borg Headgear.

    1. Re:My Prediction by Hucko · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Nah, Linux would be the biohazard symbol, being viral and all.

      --
      Semi-automatic amateur armchair Australian philosopher; conjecture ready at any moment...
  4. This is excellent by Malevolent+Tester · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can look like a complete tool without using proprietary software.

    --
    If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
    1. Re:This is excellent by msuarezalvarez · · Score: 4, Funny

      There a great chances you already do... ;-)

    2. Re:This is excellent by arbitraryaardvark · · Score: 3, Funny

      It's hard out there for a PMP.

  5. Target audience by Scutter · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How come these designers never realize that many of their target audience have poor eyesight? These types of things never fit right over glasses.

    --

    "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    1. Re:Target audience by Anonymous+Cowpat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      well, if the screen is wholly over one eye (or could be moved as such) then a relevant lens could be put in position over the other eye. The screen could then be set to black when not in use (forcing you to use the uncovered eye) OR the gizmo could acquire a small camera to provide the relevant image on the screen (of course the camera could be anywhere, such as behind you, or be infrared-sensitive for night-vision, or both) the display could then provide extra information such as the temperature, air pressure, terrorist threat-level, a todo list or, if you happen to be a terminator, a selection of the pictures of the people that you have to kill. If you're short sighted then they'll be close enough to need no correction and if you're long sighted then more fool you (or you could wear a contact lens).
      You'd still need to take them off to drive, of course.
      Now I think of it, you could just wear contact lenses. Except that you're probably a geek who's too cowardly to try and poke himself in the eye - I certainly am.

      --
      FGD 135
    2. Re:Target audience by Azarael · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unless your toy expenditure is the *reason* you can't afford the surgery..

    3. Re:Target audience by wattrlz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      AFAICT TFA didn't mention a specific price, but... can you afford the new corneas when you're the 1 in 1,000,000 on whom they botch the surgery, though? I'll stick to contacts, thank you!

    4. Re:Target audience by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      FYI: not everyone is a candidate for laser eye surgery. Anyone with vision that is still changing with time, or with extremely poor vision, is not a candidate for the treatment. (Yes, paradoxically the people who most need corrective surgery are not candidates.) For certain people with very bad eyesight and irritable eyes, neither contacts nor surgery are available (my sister is in this class of unfortunate people).

      All of that to say that there is a segment of the population who cannot avoid wearing glasses. There are of course many others who prefer glasses over contacts or corrective surgery for non-monetary reasons.

    5. Re:Target audience by russ1337 · · Score: 4, Funny

      OR the gizmo could acquire a small camera to provide the relevant image on the screen (of course the camera could be anywhere, such as behind you, ...... ,
      Sweet. I've always wanted to walk around in the third person.

    6. Re:Target audience by ballpoint · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, that's not true. Optics are designed so that you need to focus your lens on a virtual image that appears to be x meters away in exactly the same way as you would need to focus on a real image that actually is x meters away, where x is a design choice.

      For each level of near- or farsightedness, a display could be specifically designed so that no additional correction would be necessary. But guess what, manufacturers will be addressing the middle ground only, and won't be catering to special needs, save for a limited range like +/- 2 diopters that can be easily obtained by moving a lens a few mm.

      --
      Flourescent (adj): smelling like ground wheat.
    7. Re:Target audience by veganboyjosh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sweet. I've always wanted to walk around in the third person.

      even better, you could switch between several vantage points, much like just about every car racing video game i've seen in the last 10 years. just choose whether you want bird's eye view, medium view, in the driver's seat, on the hood of the car, etc...

  6. 54" screen is well and fine by Zerth · · Score: 5, Informative

    But can it give me the equivalent of 17" CRT at arms length?

    Whenever I see these, I think "yay, monitor replacement" until I find out that, like most of them, it is just as fuzzy for reading text as a regular TV.

    1. Re:54" screen is well and fine by MrSteveSD · · Score: 3, Informative

      But can it give me the equivalent of 17" CRT at arms length?

      No. The apparent size of the screen scales linearly according to distance. So 54 inches at 7 feet is the same as 54/7 at 1 foot. Your monitor is probably about 2 feet in front of you, so that is (54/7)*2 = 15.4 inches. So it's like having a 15 inch monitor.
  7. Mobile computing? by SharpFang · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One thing I missed on the feature list: bluetooth.

    Combine this with one-handed chording keyboard, maybe a camera or just a hole to look through (or allow one-eye option) and some wireless connectivity (say, your mobile phone as GPRS modem), and you have a lightweight wearable computer.

    bonus for whoever comes up with a handy wearable cursor control device - kinda trackpoint on the keyboard would do, but they are quite obnoxious.

    --
    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Mobile computing? by russ1337 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      for whoever comes up with a handy wearable cursor control device
      You mean some kind of "a free-floating, glowing, shifting polyhedron-shaped, mote of energy which could three-dimensionally "draw" and generate physical objects as they are needed, generally becoming the object in the process." like the one here?
  8. ... finest pixel pitch may not be good by dsojourner · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've worked on micro display projects before --- and you don't want the pixel pitch getting too close to the wavelength of light -- which will be around 1/2 micron. Pixels smaller than a micron or so will result in dispersion of the light that is generated, limiting the quality of the image.

    1. Re:... finest pixel pitch may not be good by hackerjoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Google calculator says:

      (0.44 inches) / 800 = 13.97 microns

      Still an order of magnitude or so away, but wow, that's a lot closer than I thought..

  9. Vapour-wearable by Caspian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The realm of 'wearable computing' seems particularly prone to vapourware. For example, check out this awesome device, which has been babbled about for years, and which you still can't buy in stores. And this PMP thing... well, you can't buy it in stores yet either.

    Yawn. Wake me when it's available for immediate shipment, with an actual price tag.

    Seriously, I'm sick and tired of Slashdot stories slashvertising gadgets that ARE NOT EVEN AVAILABLE YET and may, in fact, never be. Like this damned thing.

    --
    With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
    1. Re:Vapour-wearable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The article says the thing is shipping in March, so not all that vapourware.

      Sadly, all the stores in my area are still in January, so it's not available and may never be.

    2. Re:Vapour-wearable by Flunitrazepam · · Score: 2, Funny

      The realm of 'wearable computing' seems particularly prone to vapourware. For example, check out this awesome device,



      Give them time, they need to work out exactly how to emit the perfect 1997 lens flare

      --
      1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
  10. Re:As a fashion accessory... by NamShubCMX · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the article...

    CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE
    There is one of the biggest characteristic of INDICUBE by prominent design to express strong male beauty. With ergonomic and stylish feature, it must be fit in both orient and western people. Enjoy yourself with great style on a bus, train, airplane, or out of doors. We guarantee that INDICUBE can make you look better and create your own style.


    ugh.
    --
    We've always been at war with Eurasia.
  11. This opens up whole new possibilities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... as a guy who has a fair bit of difficulty scoring with attractive women, I am really looking forward to the possibility of banging ugly chicks while watching hot porn.

    Finally, technology that helps me in important ways.

    1. Re:This opens up whole new possibilities by RealGrouchy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wouldn't it be better to bang a hot chick while she's watching hot porn?

      - RG>

      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  12. Re:First Video To Watch On It.... by SoundGuyNoise · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Shouldn't it be Brainstorm instead?

    --
    You never expect irony, do you?
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    @iyfwrestling
  13. heh. by apodyopsis · · Score: 2, Funny

    to rehash the old joke...

    you get home, put on the ol' Indicube and immerse yourself totally in the audio and video of your favorite p*rnstar doing what she does. there you are, she's 2m away in glorious full OLED color and resolution as you are cranking away....

    you remove the headphones to find your mum has been in and left tea and biscuits on the side table whilst you were busy.

    on a more serious note, add sound canceling headphones and I can see a use for this on a long haul flight.

  14. 54 inch screen at 7 feet = 15 inch monitor by MrSteveSD · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, a 15 inch monitor (15.4 to be more precise) on your desk 2 feet in front of you has the same field of view. Somehow the sales tag "Like a 15 inch monitor on your desk" doesn't sound quite as impressive. This is one of my pet peeves. You always hear manufacturers explaining how their tiny FOV eyepiece is like an enormous screen at some equally enormous distance. They just pick a distance which coincides with an impressive sounding screen size. If they give you a distance in feet, just divide the screen size by the distance, then multiply by 2. That will give you the equivalent monitor size (2 feet in front of you).

    The FOV of this device is actually a bit better than a many I have seen. They often come out as being equivalent to 14 inch monitors rather than 15 inch monitors. It's nice that it can play HD movies but a bit of a shame that the screen is way below HD resolution, making such an exercise fairly pointless.

    Since the early 90s I been waiting for an affordable head mounted display (HMD) with a human-like field of view, and sadly I'm still waiting. Even the unaffordable ones have pretty crummy FOVs. Still, if any kind of HMD becomes popular (no matter how poor) it can only be a good thing in the long run. It's bound to result in better products before long.

  15. Re:what for? by ianare · · Score: 2, Informative

    No ... using Linux means tried and tested support for the embedded platform, no royalties to pay, access to source code in case modifications need to be made, access to source code to see exactly what is going on, easy to set up a custom interface, no bloatware mandated by OS vendor, etc etc ...

    It's really no surprise to me that Linux is making more and more progress in small devices, and none of it has to do with some sort of imaginary "Linux halo effect". It's just good engineering/business sense.

  16. Just imagine yourself... by SchizoDuckie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sitting in the train, minding your own business, with your cool eyeglasses on, and then somebody snitches your bag, coat, shoes and everything else you're not paying attention to :-D

    --
    Quack damn you!
  17. Linux-based PIMP?! by Bwana+Geek · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Give me my money, bitch!"
    "F*#% you!"
    "SUDO give my money, bitch!"

  18. Addendum by Bwana+Geek · · Score: 2, Informative

    Of course, inspired by this.

  19. Re:As a fashion accessory... by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 2, Funny

    I know you can't tell but, trust me, she looks like an idiot in these things too. She just has a way of distracting people from the glasses.

  20. Wii head tracking + HUD = Fun by thommo101 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When I saw this all I could think of is Johnny Lee's Wii-mote head tracking combined for some surely immersive games! And all on a shoestring budget!

  21. Mmm, time travel. by nick_davison · · Score: 2, Funny

    800 x 600 resolution... similar to sitting two meters away from a 54-inch screen Forget about sitting 2m back.

    In a world where 1080p is fast becoming the norm, 800x600 gives you the experience of sitting 5-10 years back.
  22. Long haul trucker by Lord+Byron+II · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm a long haul trucker and I have to say these things are a life-saver. Instead of nodding off at the wheel like I used to, now I can watch a handful of movies as I drive between Chicago and LA.

  23. Sexist pig by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 2, Funny

    It may be that we got a female on this forum who is into the more advanced forms of self pleasure... Oh right. Forgot, this is slashdot. No females.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.