Slashdot Mirror
Wearable PCs Under Linux
demachina writes "Xybernaut, a maker of wearable PC's featured in Slashdot a couple months ago, has added Linux support. They say Linux "provides a stable platform that works well in a network environment" and it "requires far fewer computer resources than competing operating systems and allows for increased efficiency" " This one has a wrist mounted screen among other things. I'm totally going gargoyle.
I can't wait untill wearables become standard (maybe?? )!!!! I think language translation would be the most useful feature. Imagine being able to walk around in a mult-culteral area and know what everybody's saying!!!
-andy
It's the same as why WinCE is bad for portables - most OSs don't scale down. They have lots of fat that needs to be trimmed. The modular design of Linux lets you dump what you don't need and come out with a sleek, streamlined kernel.
Down with monolithic OSs!
æeee!
Have you looked at the pictures on the site? Did you ever wonder why there are so few pictures of people actually wearing these things, and that most of those pictures are tiny? It's because people wearing this stuff look like dorks, plain and simple. (And no, I don't mean to pick on this one company -- there is plenty of hideous wearable PC stuff to go around.) If your goal is to look like the biggest dweeb alive, I congratulate you -- other than that, I don't see what your fascination with these things are, Rob. Get a freakin' PDA already. :P
Cheers,
ZicoKnows@hotmail.com
Anyway, this kind of stuff is great. I can envision going to CSE class and being able to try out code as the Prof. talks about it without carrying around a distracting laptop, and so forth. With a remote linkup (somehow in the future) you could check out your email on your wristwatch and so forth.
Lots of possibilities, and the fact that it runs Linux now is great!
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
Not really off-topic. It's a reference to snow crash, by neal stephenson. Gargoyles are people who have wearable computers, and who constantly collect info/intel from their surroundings. Kinda like the ultimate in wearables.
The main problem with wearable technology is power. It really defeats the purpose of having a computer that sits in your shirt pocket because you need a kilogram worth of batteries to run the thing for a day.
This is the reason why most of wearcomp stuff runs on embedded CPUs, such as the Motorola Dragonball series (as used in Palm) or the ARM chips (as used in Psion and Newton), NOT X86. Xybernaut does great stuff, but so far their systems have been hampered by the fact that they insist on running Windows on their wearables, so they need hefty processing power. Not that there are many companies in the wearable business anyway...
What Linux will offer is the ability to adapt to multiple platforms: you can do your development on your top-of-the-line Athlon system at home, then quite easily port onto your uCsimm system. I personally think that we're going to see a lot of new wearable systems based on light-weight embedded systems and uCLinux.
BTW, for anyone who is interested, go see the International Symposium on Wearable Computing home page (you can download most of the presentations from 98 and 99 as PDF (abstracts) and RealVideo). Another good place (though still heavily under construction) is the Wearable.org page. Did you know, for example, that you can harvest power from your shoes to power a wearable?
I've been researching my own wearable for a while now, and I see two main problems. The first is that I work in an office - going entirely gargoyle isn't an option. Basically, I need something that is inconspicuous. I can walk around with a box or 3 hooked to my hip... I'm a tech, I already walk around with pounds of hardware strapped to my belt. But covering the face with an eyepiece just isn't going to happen.
Anyway, that's not the worst problem... between a removable eyepiece and a hidden earphone w/ tts software (I have long hair, easy to hide an earphone), I think I have the unobtrusive bit down.
The real problem is internet access. To make full use of a wearable computer, it needs to be connected to the network. I should be able to real time monitor my servers, be alerted of email, read slashdot, send email, fix my servers, post to slashdot... all while riding in the car, on the train, in the restauraunt. Cell modems are simply too expensive.
And the current solutions aren't enough. The Palm network offers "web clipping" - which amounts to them sending you what they want you to see. Telnet? Not a chance. Sprint's wireless web service? It has possibilities, but with the metered usage they currently offer, it's not much better than a cell modem for price.
Anyway, I doubt anyone has a solution (short of start up your own telco/ISP). However, as near as I can tell, the worst barrier to making the most of mobile computing is the communications barrier.
All operating systems suck. Some just suck less than others. (and some are virtual black holes)
Uh, guys, the MA-IV has been able to function on Linux since it was first manufactured. XYBR just used the mention-Linux-in-a-PR-release-and-watch-your-stock -rise meme to spin a non-event into something to get posted at Slashdot. And you fell for it. Yep.
OTOH, I do think it's a good stock--been a fave of mine for a while and so my bank account thanks you for the mention on Slashdot as it is already causing the stock price to rise.
O.K., I am ussually not all that concerned about "Big Brother" being around every corner or knowing everything about me, BUT please stop and think about what you are suggesting. With this system what we currently know as privacy would/could all but disappear. Can you imagine if they mandating the wearing of devices such as you just described. If that is what the future holds maybe I should go camping and get lost...on purpose. Just my opinion....the posible implications are a little scary.
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. -- Benjamin Franklin
It's too bad press releases don't have to follow the FDA's labelling guidelines for truthful content. Otherwise, I imagine the release would have read something like this:
/PRNewswire/ -- Xybernaut Corporation (Nasdaq: XYBR - news), the leader in wearable computing by virtue of there being so few companies in the field, today announced the occasional availability and initial sales of its Mobile Assistant® IV (MA IV(TM)) running the Linux operating system. Linux has become increasingly popular as a robust operating system and contender for the server, enterprise and Internet
--
FAIRFAX, Va., Dec. 14
markets.
Edward G. Newman, president and chief executive officer of Xybernaut, commented, ``We are pleased by the addition of these Linux-based systems to our product lineup. Our initial Linux sales to major companies in the automotive, shipping and aerospace industries have been -- oh, who are we kidding. The only big upside to this announcement is that we should get plenty of attention from Slashdot.'' He then added, ``Geez, I hope our servers are up to this. We don't want to end up being poster children for that stupid IBM commercial where the guy's in an AA-like meeting and talks about his web site going down.''
Dr. Edwin Vogt, executive vice president for Xybernaut's European Operations added, ``We have successfully integrated hardware and software into a mobile device whose geekiness is unrivalled, even by the popular pocket protector.''
--
Sargent
The pictures that you will see displayed for these systems are second generation wearable computers.
I had an opportunity several years ago to work on a first generation wearable computer project at the University of Oregon. You talk about lame! That thing was made from the guts of a notebook PC (I forget what model) stuffed into a heavy duty fishing/hunting vest, with a bulky set of virtual glasses and Dragon Dictate for voice control. Control was problematic, and the darned thing didn't even DO that much, but the department head was happy, which counted for more.
The point is, it was lame and useless, but it served its purpose of proof of concept! That work, and similiar projects, allowed the second generation of wearable computers to be put together as something halfway useful.
As for the next generation of wearable computers, I think that you will find that wearing one will no longer mark you as a dork or dweeb. Screen projectors will routinely be fitted into standard eyeglasses (or sunglasses, for those who are "too cool" to be a four eyed nerd). Controls will probably be by voice and or some sort of control glove that will not be too conspicuous. And noone will be able to tell you are wearing a computer unless they look real close.
As for the advantage of a wearable system over a PDA... Well, a PDA has (at best) a 5" screen. I would imagine that the effective size of a projected screen from a wearable could be as large as desired. Can we say 32" monitor?
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Admit it -- you just gotta see pictures of them, right? Here you go.
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/sdmirro r/index.html
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
How am I supposed to read the news if you guys keep taking every server down that posts anything interesting? :p
Personally, I'd rather try to cobble together my own which I could probably do for about half that price.
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My mom's going to kick you in the face!
It was a good idea, but IMO wearables should be much less invasive then that. Give me my Palm Pilot any day.
For some commentary on the Xybernaut from Steve Mann's Cyborg crew up in the University of Toronto, look here.
I wear pants.
Rodney Geekfreund passed away yesterday when he dodged a virtual missile in the game on his wearable, only to get hit by a non-virtual crosstown bus.
CDPD is used in the Palm III's Minstrel, and the new Palm V Omnisky Minstrel [www.omnisky.com]). If I recall there are a couple of PCMCIA type II and III cards that support it as well (the Spider comes to mind)
AT&T has 'unlimited' service for it at around $25/month for the palm $55/month for other devices in many areas (called AT&T Wireless IP Service) and it gives you a 19.2k TCP/IP stack.
The service is damn near ideal for wearable/pda use, so, I wouldn't go so far as to say there are no options for internet connectivity.
Sanity is a sandbox. I prefer the swings.
while driving thru an oil pipeline he whips out some palm device and there's a "WindowsCE" product placement, hehe. Wonder how much that one co$t 'em.
Boojum
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Xybernaut has, in the past anyhow, fallen into the idea that a wearable computer is any computer that can be strapped onto your body. Take a laptop, hang it on a belt, and add a heads-up display. *poof* Wearable computer.
:)
What constitutes a wearable computer? Well, for one, I think that anything that makes me lose my balance is pretty well out of the running. ("Yeah, I just hang this here iMac off my hip. I walk a bit funny, but I can play Quake anywhere!") Further, traditional input methods are pretty much as waste of time.
Obviously, voice-based input is the way that things have to go. I've never had a great deal of luck with that on any of my systems, but I recently used Jupiter, MIT's voice-based weather service. Call (1-888-573-8255) and ask it any question that you want about the weather anywhere in the US. It's really an amazing system.
Short of that, considering the processing power that's required in order to handle voice adequately, a VR keyboard might be a good first step. A HUD could show you a keyboard, floating in the air. Small devices on the fingers (like little round bandaids, perhaps, on the backs on top knuckle) could track your finger movements so that you could type.
Audio-based feedback, as we all have probably found, is helpful. So now we need a small device on the back of the ear(s), too.
Glasses, headphone, fingerpads, microphone, CPU. With all of these things, you truly do *wear* your computer. Quite an assembly to get all of this on.
Is it possible to improve on this setup? Of course. Somewhere in the middle ground between hanging a Toshiba Satellite on your belt and pulling on a computer-suit is going to be the everyman's wearable computer. And if I knew what that would be, I'd be a very rich man.
Actually, there are a few Dreamcast games using it: Sega Rally 2, Quarterback Club, Expendable, and Incoming. Oddly, those are the only 4 titles on the system that cannot maintain a flat 60 FPS framerate. Please explain, if WinCE is so great ;-)
xybernaut's mobile assistant's are designed around your basic PC specs. They run windows, and if you can get windows to run on a box, you can probably get linux to boot up as well without too much effort.
And if I remember correctly, you've been able to get linux as the OS for a while now. It's just this is the first press release. Maybe their meaning of "support" is technical support as opposed to just having the OS capable of running on the box.
On a related note, guess who's stock jumped up 15% today? (begin sarcasm) Coincidence? Good thing I bought it when in august when it was $1. I tripled my money.
Sig:
Barbeque is a noun. Not a verb.
In a sense, much of what we've seen of computers today was predictable: the Dick Tracy wristwatch, Flash Gordon's viewscreen technology, etc. If the future were that simple to predict, WinCE might have been the answer.
But what's going to make an "ultraportable" successful is going to be a surprize. The PalmPilot won in the handheld category just because it was a better product, but it's a really subtle thing to describe exactly what is better about it. Yet, hold it side by side to a WinCE device and in about 60 seconds you prefer it, despite its paucity of apps. And that kind of subtle usability attribute is really hard to predict, even for the developers. I expect [hey, it's not exactly profound] that wearables are going to have many of the same attributes, or even more. It'll be like trying on shoes: this one pinches... ahhh! this one feels comfy. Having a variety of robust, mutable opensource OS and app solutions available to play with is totally key to allowing the widest variety of Gyro Gearlooses to experiment with kooky quirky variations, but there will be a buncha cool stuff coming out the other end.
I was thinking the other day that the automobile was invented, looking back, pretty far into the last century. But we think of them as a 20th century device. I think in 20 years computers are going to seem to have undergone as rapid an advance. Yeah, there were some primitive devices available back in '99, and in "aught one", but nothing like what's new for '19!!
note: I'm also predicting that we'll be back to using 2 digits for years again, lickety split, but that's off-topic.
- There are content restrictions on what you can send over ham radio. No encrypted data, no profanity, no nothing.
- Your range isn't much better than line-of-sight on any band where you can get serious bandwidth. On the HF bands which do allow DX regularly, IIRC you are limited to very low speeds; it used to be 65 WPM Baudot (!), but it may be as high (yeah, high) as 4800 BPS now. You just don't have the bandwidth to play with when your entire band is only 300 KHz wide; you have to play nice and share, or else you aren't operating for long.
- You can't do anything at all commercial.
- Anyone can listen to your traffic.
Ham radio, especially in the HF bands, just isn't suited for what you need for wearables.--
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.