Dec 18
news, research, watch
New York Times – [...] Wearable computing is a broad term. Technically, a fancy electronic watch is a wearable computer. But the ultimate version of this technology is a screen that would somehow augment our vision with information and media.
Over the last year, Apple and Google have secretly begun working on projects that will become wearable computers. Their main goal: to sell more smartphones. (In Google’s case, more smartphones sold means more advertising viewed.)
In Google’s secret Google X labs, researchers are working on peripherals that — when attached to your clothing or body — would communicate information back to an Android smartphone.
People familiar with the work in the lab say Google has hired electronic engineers from Nokia Labs, Apple and engineering universities who specialize in tiny wearable computers.
Apple has also experimented with prototype products that could relay information back to the iPhone These conceptual products could also display information on other Apple devices, like an iPod, which Apple is already encouraging us to wear on our wrists by selling Nanos with watch faces.
Dec 13
display, news
TechCrunch - We’ve all see video glasses before – those clunky, Geordi La Forge-looking things that promise to display a 10 foot screen in front of your face. The drawbacks, generally, are size and transparency. Lumus, however, has solved those problems and is working on bringing a pair of see-through, HD video glasses to market that look more Minority Report than 1990s Star Trek.
Basically, Lumus has embedded a pair of light pumps into the earpieces that send and refract light down the lens. This moves the electronics away from the eyes, offering a lighter and more stream-lined experience. The lenses are completely transparent (and can be tuned for folks with vision problems) and when enabled the glasses display a crystal clear, 87-inch screen about ten feet away from you. The displays themselves are 1280 x 720 pixels and Lumus has created iPhone-compatible adapters that can display HD video right through the pumps and into the lenses.
Mar 07
news, research, software
MIT technology review – A research team at Georgia Tech hopes to make augmented reality (AR) on smart phones more useful by developing an open standard for it.
Currently, there is no standard way to create or render AR applications, which overlay information on the live video feed from a phone’s camera. Companies such as Layar help app developers create AR functions, but they use proprietary technologies. That means, among other things, that different AR apps may be unable to talk to each other or share data. The Georgia Tech team hopes that its open standard, an enhancement of existing Web protocols, will yield a common way for every Web browser to store, transmit, and manipulate data for augmented reality services. If it does, you wouldn’t need a separate app for each AR function on your phone—one browser could show them all.
Nov 30
news, research
ZD Net – The European Union has funded an ambitious project related to wearable technology. This project, named WearIT@work will end in one year and was funded with 14.3 million euros of EU money, even if the total project cost is expected to exceed 23 million euros. For mobile workers, the goal is to replace traditional interfaces, such as screen, keyboard or computer unit, by speech control or gesture control, without modifying the applications. This wearable system is currently being tested in four different fields including aircraft maintenance, emergency response, car production and healthcare.
Sep 22
news, watch
PDA Today – InHand Electronics Announces e-ink military Soldier Flex PDA (SFPDA). The Soldier Flex PDA (SFPDA) has been successfully demonstrated at the Future Force Warrior’s On-The-Move (OTM) exercises in Fort Dix, NJ. Whereas the electronics for most PDAs are challenged to run under 1W, the entire SFPDA has typical power consumption well under 1W, including the display and InHand’s PXA270-based Fingertip4 CPU board, along with Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, and keypad interfaces. This reduced-power consumption is due to the unique low-power characteristics of electronic paper displays and InHand’s patented BatterySmart system software. The result: a ruggedized handheld with over 6 hours of run-time weighing in at less than one pound.
Jun 24
news, watch
Clarion Ledger – [...] Wibree, which is being developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and Nokia Corp., will use radio frequency technology for communicating with small devices, such as watches, wireless keyboards, gaming and sports sensors. Even pill boxes and heart rate monitors may benefit from the technology, according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which also is known as SIG. Any small, button-cell device with the Wibree feature would have the capability to connect to Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as mobile phones and personal computers. [...] One possible frontrunner will be wrist watches and other wearable devices. Just imagine a receiving a call on your mobile phone and having your watch display a text message or the phone number. I could use that feature now
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