Slashdot Mirror
Photos From Wearable Computer Fashion Show
Bud writes "Behind this URL you can find photos from the wearable computers fashion show at Internet World 99."
This is pretty disturbing. Definitely worth a good laugh or three. Then again... models ;)
To save you time, I have links to the only two pictures you really want to see
:)
Pic One
Pic Two
None of these really show that much in terms of wearable computers, mostly just dumb looking shiny costumes, so you might as well just look at the two that show some skin and go back to coding
Finkployd
I attend one of the schools where there is active research into wearable computers. After overhearing a discussion on the possibility of eye damage due to the amount of time spent closely viewing a computer screen with one eye, I am now very skeptical about wearable computers. I would hate for them to become like cell phones (y'know they might cause brain tumors but we've already gotten so used to using them it's hard to stop), the killer app that might actually kill you. I am now interested in how much research is done to see if potential eye damage is expected and if so how it will be combatted.
I for one know that with the amount of time I already spend in front of a computer risking carpal tunnel syndrome, it would be a real b*tch to add possible eye damage to my list of occupational hazards.
Researchers in the lab are reportedly bumping up against physical limits, so frequently that it doesn't seem accidental. They hope many of the obstacles will turn out to be surmountable, though it will require a breakthrough to get beyond the current limit, the so-called "Moore's thong".
- A lightweight operating system. Of course, that means running PalmOS. Sad to say, Linux doesn't have the applications for this kind of situation (yet?).
- Cryptofinancial Privacy. Use iButton(s) to store things like private keys and other cryptofinancial information. For now, I'll have to be content with GNU Keyring on my Palm IIIx. Confinitiy's PayPal gets a poke in the eye until they get their act together and make a Linux installer for their Palm software.
- Real Style. Not look like something from Logan's Run. Technology is at its best when its subtle and unnoticable. A Palm device in your pocket or purse is pretty unnoticable (until you start using it, then the Unknowing clamor about it 'Ooh, what is that?')
- Cesium-133 Timepeice Accuracy. It should know how to set its time/date from the Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, CO.
- Where are ya?. If you're going to put in any kind of radio receiver, you might as well throw a GPS receiver in it so you don't get lost. Or, at the least, be really annoying when you can say "If we keep walking at this rate, we'll get to Fargo in 345 days, 6 minutes, 35 seconds!"
- Remote control. A really strong IR transceiver for remote control applications. It would be really nice if I didn't have to get up off the couch to grab a remote. Cripes, I've got like 10 of them on the coffee table.
Note that I do not advocate the MP3 player, etc. I think the wearable is more about control-- control of your financials (ala the new Wallet), control of your time (ala never worrying about what time it is), your style (ala don't be a fashion slave), where you want to go (ala I know how close I am to getting somewhere) and your stuff (ala CHANGE THE CHANNEL ALREADY! TURN OFF THAT TELETUBBY CRAP! ARRGGH!).Otherwise, I think the show was mostly an opportunity to show off sexy-sexy models wearing either Goretex or shiny black vinyl. :)
_______
computers://use.urls. People use Networds.
I don't think we're too far off from that. AT Burning Man '99, a lot of people were wearing costumes or clothes that had electroluminescent wire sewn into them. EL wire comes in about a half-dozen colours and glows like neon when a current is run through it. Some people simply had it connected to a small battery/transformer assembly on their belts, while others had some small pocket sequencers that allowed them to create "chaser" effects. It works well in a rave/club context, and also a safety context -- you were less likely to drive your bike into EL-adorned people (certain parts of Burning Man are pitch black at night).
I'd like to see a communications protocol used by DJs that would broadcast information such as the name and artist of the song currently being played. In a large club setting, it's not always possible to press your way to the DJ booth and ask -- and if you've ever read the "Moody DJ" comic strip series, you know why it's not always a good idea to ask.
There's a large contingent of rave kids who now bring their own African drums to raves to play along. Those things are large enough to embed a ruggedized computer. With Bluetooth wireless technologies, you could surreptitiously order ecstacy from a similarly equipped dealer. Imagine, a new double entendre: e-commerce!
I was surprised that none of the models had a computer stuffed into those tiny knapsacks that women at clubs seem to favour. That seems like a pretty good place to mount a computer without looking ridiculous (depending on your fashion tastes) or at least overly techo-fetishistic. I'm sure a teeny knapsack could hold a computer to interface with the top-secret networks that connects women from across the globe together. You know -- the information network with access terminals in women's washrooms. That's why women go to the washroom in twos -- two people have to enter a part of the decryption key simultaneously. Really, guys, I swear this is true.