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Bleeding Edge

by Mike Masnick

Thu, May 23rd 2002 1:47am





Test Driving A Wearable Computer

from the life-imitates-art dept

A columnist from the San Jose Mercury News had the chance to test out Xybernaut's latest wearable computer - which is the first they'll be offering to consumers. While cheaper than their other models (sold only to businesses and the military), it doesn't sound all that impressive. Apparently, it's tough to get the head mounted display to work properly, and the device is severely underpowered. With the sudden interest in tiny computers that we spoke about earlier, hopefully, it will soon be possible to create more fully powered wearables. I still think it's amusing, though, how closely life is starting to imitate the book Snow Crash.

4 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    Snow Crash

    identicon
    u2604ab, May 23rd, 2002 @ 2:23am

    Two words: Sims Online

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Wearable Computer

    identicon
    JDBNYC, May 23rd, 2002 @ 7:35am

    I wore Xybernaut MAIV head mounted as well as the touch screen computer (separately) for a couple of months at work to test their usability. While there is a learning curve to using it as well as some time to get comfortable wearing a computer I found it to be a worthwhile experience. I found that different graphical user interfaces need to be implemented due to the form factor but I enjoyed the challenge. As you can see, the new hardware they are bringing to market is significantly smaller they have a way to go before wearable computing is adopted into the mainstream. But, many industries can benefit tremendously having their employees permanently attached to their computers with a wireless network connection.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    xybernaut headmount display

    identicon
    joey, Jul 12th, 2002 @ 1:07am

    Hello,
    Read your comments and found them informative.
    Been wondering how the HMD was when you wore it.
    Was the screen visible in daylight.
    Was it easy to place on your head.
    How did it fit on your head?
    Saw a picture of it without a headband, confused.

    Also was wondering how entering text was.

    Thank you for helping me.
    Joey

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: Wearable Computer

    identicon
    Lee Maisel, Jul 24th, 2003 @ 1:42pm

    I have ONE major problem with the HMD.
    Most apps these days are made for 800x600 and ABOVE. Subsequently, Parts of the program are OFF the SCREEN! I have some apps I cant click the buttons for for this reason.

    Does anyone know of a virtual desktop program or something where I can do a Virtual resolution, say 1024x768 on the 640x480 HMD and just Scroll around???

    THanks!

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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