What might be interesting is if you went to the session but did not hear the predictions (like if you wore earplugs or something). Your friend (sitting behind you or listening via radio or something) would then record the predictions and put them in a "time capsule".
Had you done this, and opened this "time capsule" years later to discover it all had come true - well, that'd be pretty weird, wouldn't it? I mean, weirder than this must have already been.
Many PC/104 computers are made to different standards than PCs (industrial vs. general use) and it is common for them to use less power (run cooler) and generally be more tolerant to environmental/electrical factors.
They're also commonly less powerful CPU-wise than the typical desktop PC.
I read a commentary in the APS's (American Physical Society) weekly news a little while ago that there's been a lot of talk about Hydrogen's great advantages as a fuel source. It could replace fossil fuels as our primary fuel source.
The advantages are there, but the contention was that Hydrogen is not a fuel *source*.
The question no one seems to bring up is: Where is all this Hydrogen going to come from?
There is no such thing as "Hydrogen deposits" that can be mined in any conventional sense.
Right now, the only way to get Hyrdogen is to make it.
How do we make it? We electrolyze water. (At a net loss as far as energy in vs. Hydrogen out goes, but let's ignore that for the time being)
Electrolyzing water requires electricity. Which we currently [mostly] get by burning fossil fuels.
I'm not saying it's a fool's errand or anything. I think using Hydrogen's a grand idea. But so far there's been too little talk about where we're going to get all this Hydrogen from - which needs to be addressed if it's ever going to become a real contender for our countries' primary fuel.
I'd like to post the text of a link I have on one of my sites called "What my wearable computer is (and isn't) that may help dispel some preconceptions.
Not all of the ideas I have listed below are unique to me - some are mine, some were also conceived by others, and some are taken from people far more intelligent and insightful than I.
What my Wearable Computer Is (and Isn't)
I am developing a device I call the PIASYS (pie' AH sis), or Personal
Intelligence Augmentation SYStem. It is a specialized Wearable Computer.
So, there are plenty of preconceptions about wearable computers.
However, the PIASYS has neither a mouse nor a keyboard. Neither does it use voice
recognition as its primary interface. The only input is a few conveniently-located buttons (on a ring, a pen, etc). The screen is embedded in a pair of sunglasses, superimposing the computer's output onto the "Real World". A video camera accompanies the display in the glasses. The hardware all fits into a small package, easily worn under clothing. In fact, it's not obvious a person wearing the PISYS is in fact wearing or even using a computer.
Does it replace a "Real" computer? No. Why? Because the PIASYS does
mostly totally different things than a desktop system. And for good reason. The PIASYS is not made to allow you to write code on the bus, or to use a CAD program in the park (though you could do these things if you wanted). The PIASYS is instead intended to enhance those abilities we already have and use in our everyday lives. It helps you see, it helps you remember, it helps you memorize, and it helps you think more efficiently (just as a calculator helps you do math more efficiently). And most importantly, it is private. The data, unless explicitly shared, is no one's but yours.
The PIASYS is designed around two core concepts. First, my concept of "Personal Intelligence", and secondly the concept of "Intelligence Augmentation". It is the idea
of having a system available to you that is both personal and private, and
designed to greatly enhance your ability to gather, store, and recall useful news,
information, and resources (intelligence) pertaining to you and your personal space.Also, it serves as an additional "brain", offering the brute force computational ability of a computer at your fingertips, as well as the resources of the Internet, and the resources of other people (whom you can connect to and confer with via the PIASYS or similar wearable system).
For example, the PIASYS effects a great enhancement of personal intelligence by
being able to perform such tasks as:
Face Recognition
Intelligent Reminder Management
Navigation Aiding
Retroactive Recording of Audio and Video
Instant Messaging
Providing a limited (and sometimes literal) Photographic Memory
Providing realtime Reference Materials
Allowing Live Collaborative Conferencing
That's only a few of the immense possibilities.
So, without a mouse or keyboard - how does one "use" the PIASYS? The short answer is that it mostly uses itself. It is designed not to be used like a desktop computer, but rather to sit in the background, quietly assisting you in whatever ELSE you may be doing, rather than requiring you to spend your time interfacing to IT.
In practical terms, the PIASYS uses environmental and contextual factors as most of it's input. The rest is supplied in the form of commands or confirmations by the user. A few simple buttons are sufficient to allow the user to tell the PIASYS what to do in any given situation.
Some functions require explicit input (commands). For example, imagine someone has just told you a name and phone number. You could (with a simple button click) tell your PIASYS to "record video and audio from five seconds ago" immediately after hearing the needed information -- which could then serve as a reminder. You could do a similar recording of an event that has already happened in other circumstances: after witnessing an accident, after dealing with an official you suspect may change his or her story, or after seeing or hearing something especially interesting.
Other inputs are implicit, rather than explicit. Your PIASYS may automatically record recent events after your pulse rises sharply, for example. A video or audio or textual reminder may be presented automatically once you have reached a certain location. Or when you see a certain object, or a certain person (Face Recognition).
A simple input from the user (like clicking his or her ring) can serve as confirmation, rather than command. For example, the PIASYS can record every direction change you take as you are travelling, then ask if you would like them replayed to retrace your steps when it detects you may be lost (which it may infer by your uncertain movements).
The point is that the PIASYS is not a desktop replacement - nor is it even a desktop contender. It is a computer, but with a completely different purpose: to help you in your everyday life and allow you more control over yourself, your data, and your private space -- not less.
For more information about the issues I attempt to address with the PIASYS (as well as other solutions), visit the Philosophy links here at Man-Machines.
I disagree; this is always what technology is about. Any new technology requires you to adapt; to give up old habits and adopt new ones.
Personally, I gauge technology a little differently. To me, one of the best pieces of technology is Eyeglasses.
It's (figuratively as well as literally) transparent to the user. One you are using it, you can even forget it's there. It's so useful and useable that although it's an external tool, we consider as part of ourselves.
That's what good technology should be like; of course most isn't, but it's what we should be striving for. Otherwise we will never achieve tech that is "good", only tech that is "good enough".
It's a handheld-sized full PC; with 640x480 touchscreen, SMS-style keyboard and mini "nipple" mouse. 10 gig hard drive, all the ports you could want, the list goes on and on!
I wear prescription glasses. Would this cause any problems?
Yes. You would need contacts. Or put a prescription lens between your eye and the display. I did this in my 1st generation glasses.
Is it possible to use this with a Windows-based computer?
Yes, so long as it outputs VGA or TV Out (or you use a scan converter).
Can you drop the price a hair?
I would love to, but not at this time. Each display is handmade and represents many hours of delicate work with components not very forgiving of mistakes.:(
However, as things go forward prices come down. My goal is not payola. It's to make something available that should have been off the shelf for, like at least 5 years now.
These things are NOT the sole product of some R&D Lab somewhere. They can be made, and they can be made today.
That would be true, except that the lens changes the focal length of the display to appear "normal" - ie at the same depth as other things around you.
You can see this effect for yourself with a magnifier lens of some kind. Preferably a jewele's loupe or some other small magnifying lens.
Hold the lens up to one eye. Keep both eyes open. Hold a paper with writing up to the eye with the lens. Move the paper back and forth until it comes into focus. You'll see what I mean.
It's just like looking into a video camera's eyepiece.
It can get cooler. With my first-generation display (with a black & white mini camera in it) I looped it back into the display. I amused myself by turning out the lights, and using a remote control as a flashlight to see in the dark.
Nearly all monochrome mini cameras are IR-sensitive. It was cheap night-vision.
Professor Mann has done some incredible work. His display indeed predates mine. However, for people who want to get into wearables, you have only a couple options regarding the display:
1) Make it yourself
2) Buy off-the-shelf and get the "borg" look
I hope I can bring things a step closer to buying off-the-shelf while totally avoiding borgification.
I admit I wouldn't wear a borg-looking display in public. I'm not popular enough to be different.:)
You bring up an interesting point. Right now it's useful for what it is and for interface to a semi-embedded system (like wearables).
However, to be really useful in a variety of applications (in-glasses camera viewfinder, private computer display, private video entertainment, etc etc) it needs at least color 640x480 for real flexibility for many applications.
The day's coming though. One of these days I or someone else will pull it off.:)
Slashdot Mirror
What might be interesting is if you went to the session but did not hear the predictions (like if you wore earplugs or something). Your friend (sitting behind you or listening via radio or something) would then record the predictions and put them in a "time capsule".
Had you done this, and opened this "time capsule" years later to discover it all had come true - well, that'd be pretty weird, wouldn't it? I mean, weirder than this must have already been.
Do "X" in/from country "A" and you're a criminal, because "A" has a law against it.
Do "X" in/from country "B" and you're not a criminal, because "B" doesn't have a law against it.
Or have I missed something? Maybe the question is more of a moral one (Lawful/Unlawful doesn't necessarily mean Right/Wrong).
---DonaldP
Afterburner GameBoy Advance Lights Sold and Installed! Check it out!
Many PC/104 computers are made to different standards than PCs (industrial vs. general use) and it is common for them to use less power (run cooler) and generally be more tolerant to environmental/electrical factors.
They're also commonly less powerful CPU-wise than the typical desktop PC.
I read a commentary in the APS's (American Physical Society) weekly news a little while ago that there's been a lot of talk about Hydrogen's great advantages as a fuel source. It could replace fossil fuels as our primary fuel source.
The advantages are there, but the contention was that Hydrogen is not a fuel *source*.
The question no one seems to bring up is: Where is all this Hydrogen going to come from?
There is no such thing as "Hydrogen deposits" that can be mined in any conventional sense.
Right now, the only way to get Hyrdogen is to make it.
How do we make it? We electrolyze water. (At a net loss as far as energy in vs. Hydrogen out goes, but let's ignore that for the time being)
Electrolyzing water requires electricity. Which we currently [mostly] get by burning fossil fuels.
I'm not saying it's a fool's errand or anything. I think using Hydrogen's a grand idea. But so far there's been too little talk about where we're going to get all this Hydrogen from - which needs to be addressed if it's ever going to become a real contender for our countries' primary fuel.
What my Wearable Computer Is (and Isn't)
I am developing a device I call the PIASYS (pie' AH sis), or Personal Intelligence Augmentation SYStem. It is a specialized Wearable Computer.
When most people hear the term "Wearable Computer", they usually picture things like big ugly head-mounted displays, cumbersome input methods (including voice control), bulky hardware, and of course, just plain looking too "different" (or as described on Slashdot: "like a borg reject").
So, there are plenty of preconceptions about wearable computers.
However, the PIASYS has neither a mouse nor a keyboard. Neither does it use voice recognition as its primary interface. The only input is a few conveniently-located buttons (on a ring, a pen, etc). The screen is embedded in a pair of sunglasses, superimposing the computer's output onto the "Real World". A video camera accompanies the display in the glasses. The hardware all fits into a small package, easily worn under clothing. In fact, it's not obvious a person wearing the PISYS is in fact wearing or even using a computer.
Does it replace a "Real" computer? No. Why? Because the PIASYS does mostly totally different things than a desktop system. And for good reason. The PIASYS is not made to allow you to write code on the bus, or to use a CAD program in the park (though you could do these things if you wanted). The PIASYS is instead intended to enhance those abilities we already have and use in our everyday lives. It helps you see, it helps you remember, it helps you memorize, and it helps you think more efficiently (just as a calculator helps you do math more efficiently). And most importantly, it is private. The data, unless explicitly shared, is no one's but yours.
The PIASYS is designed around two core concepts. First, my concept of "Personal Intelligence", and secondly the concept of "Intelligence Augmentation". It is the idea of having a system available to you that is both personal and private, and designed to greatly enhance your ability to gather, store, and recall useful news, information, and resources (intelligence) pertaining to you and your personal space.Also, it serves as an additional "brain", offering the brute force computational ability of a computer at your fingertips, as well as the resources of the Internet, and the resources of other people (whom you can connect to and confer with via the PIASYS or similar wearable system).
For example, the PIASYS effects a great enhancement of personal intelligence by being able to perform such tasks as:
Face Recognition
Intelligent Reminder Management
Navigation Aiding
Retroactive Recording of Audio and Video
Instant Messaging
Providing a limited (and sometimes literal) Photographic Memory
Providing realtime Reference Materials
Allowing Live Collaborative Conferencing
That's only a few of the immense possibilities.
So, without a mouse or keyboard - how does one "use" the PIASYS? The short answer is that it mostly uses itself. It is designed not to be used like a desktop computer, but rather to sit in the background, quietly assisting you in whatever ELSE you may be doing, rather than requiring you to spend your time interfacing to IT.
In practical terms, the PIASYS uses environmental and contextual factors as most of it's input. The rest is supplied in the form of commands or confirmations by the user. A few simple buttons are sufficient to allow the user to tell the PIASYS what to do in any given situation.
Some functions require explicit input (commands). For example, imagine someone has just told you a name and phone number. You could (with a simple button click) tell your PIASYS to "record video and audio from five seconds ago" immediately after hearing the needed information -- which could then serve as a reminder. You could do a similar recording of an event that has already happened in other circumstances: after witnessing an accident, after dealing with an official you suspect may change his or her story, or after seeing or hearing something especially interesting.
Other inputs are implicit, rather than explicit. Your PIASYS may automatically record recent events after your pulse rises sharply, for example. A video or audio or textual reminder may be presented automatically once you have reached a certain location. Or when you see a certain object, or a certain person (Face Recognition).
A simple input from the user (like clicking his or her ring) can serve as confirmation, rather than command. For example, the PIASYS can record every direction change you take as you are travelling, then ask if you would like them replayed to retrace your steps when it detects you may be lost (which it may infer by your uncertain movements).
The point is that the PIASYS is not a desktop replacement - nor is it even a desktop contender. It is a computer, but with a completely different purpose: to help you in your everyday life and allow you more control over yourself, your data, and your private space -- not less.
For more information about the issues I attempt to address with the PIASYS (as well as other solutions), visit the Philosophy links here at Man-Machines.
Some good information can also be had from Professor Steve Mann's "Cyborg - Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer".
Personally, I gauge technology a little differently. To me, one of the best pieces of technology is Eyeglasses.
It's (figuratively as well as literally) transparent to the user. One you are using it, you can even forget it's there. It's so useful and useable that although it's an external tool, we consider as part of ourselves.
That's what good technology should be like; of course most isn't, but it's what we should be striving for. Otherwise we will never achieve tech that is "good", only tech that is "good enough".
Ignoring your kids is like ignoring the family pet. Pretty soon, there's shit all over the place - and I'll bet you notice the pet's mess first.
Check out the eightythree - it's in the brochure PDF at http://www.tiqit.com .
It's a handheld-sized full PC; with 640x480 touchscreen, SMS-style keyboard and mini "nipple" mouse. 10 gig hard drive, all the ports you could want, the list goes on and on!
Damn, I'd love one of these.
You may want to check out Doug Sutherland's Fashion Wearable. Take a look at Cliff Leong's wearables as well.
Hi - in response to your questions:
:(
I wear prescription glasses. Would this cause any problems?
Yes. You would need contacts. Or put a prescription lens between your eye and the display. I did this in my 1st generation glasses.
Is it possible to use this with a Windows-based computer?
Yes, so long as it outputs VGA or TV Out (or you use a scan converter).
Can you drop the price a hair?
I would love to, but not at this time. Each display is handmade and represents many hours of delicate work with components not very forgiving of mistakes.
However, as things go forward prices come down. My goal is not payola. It's to make something available that should have been off the shelf for, like at least 5 years now.
These things are NOT the sole product of some R&D Lab somewhere. They can be made, and they can be made today.
That would be true, except that the lens changes the focal length of the display to appear "normal" - ie at the same depth as other things around you.
You can see this effect for yourself with a magnifier lens of some kind. Preferably a jewele's loupe or some other small magnifying lens.
Hold the lens up to one eye. Keep both eyes open. Hold a paper with writing up to the eye with the lens. Move the paper back and forth until it comes into focus. You'll see what I mean.
It's just like looking into a video camera's eyepiece.
It can get cooler. With my first-generation display (with a black & white mini camera in it) I looped it back into the display. I amused myself by turning out the lights, and using a remote control as a flashlight to see in the dark.
Nearly all monochrome mini cameras are IR-sensitive. It was cheap night-vision.
Professor Mann has done some incredible work. His display indeed predates mine. However, for people who want to get into wearables, you have only a couple options regarding the display:
:)
1) Make it yourself
2) Buy off-the-shelf and get the "borg" look
I hope I can bring things a step closer to buying off-the-shelf while totally avoiding borgification.
I admit I wouldn't wear a borg-looking display in public. I'm not popular enough to be different.
You bring up an interesting point. Right now it's useful for what it is and for interface to a semi-embedded system (like wearables).
However, to be really useful in a variety of applications (in-glasses camera viewfinder, private computer display, private video entertainment, etc etc) it needs at least color 640x480 for real flexibility for many applications.
The day's coming though. One of these days I or someone else will pull it off.