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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.
Now where would be the fun of that?!?
I know this one time I _had_ to make a phone call from a public phone, and there was somebody inside. So I started cursing the guy in Romanian (the whole thing is happening in Toronto) because he would not come out. Well, when he finally finished talking, he comes out and replies "It's all yours!" in Romanian. I can't imagine the look on my face when I heard him...
Now if we all had those language translators, none of it would have happened. I don't want to be deprived of he opportunity of making an ass of myself, do I?
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)
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
I've been doing a lot of thinking about wearable PCs and I don't think language translation is the coolest app. Imagine if your lapel pin monitored everything people said to you, and then you could ask it questions like, "What did my girlfriend tell me to buy at the store?" The ultimate memory aid. It would make the "To Do List" on all those palm tops obsolete. Or combined these gizmos with ambiguous computing. Imagine your new in town and you ask you wrist watch what's the best Chinese restaurant in town? It talks to all the other wrist watches in town and see which Chinese restaurant has been do the most business. Then ask it which is the least crowded and it would see how many wrist watches were in each restaurant and report back to you. Really there are so many cool things you could do with machines like these that I could write about it all day.
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.
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 ;-)