Thanks, Tom, for your valuable inputs.
>So, I'm building my own, based upon the elements that are most important to
>me (<$1000 overall price, Mac OS, 4 lb or less overall weight, fits in a
>belt pack). I'm willing to work with existing displays like the M1, willing
>to learn to use the Twiddler, willing to use a slow processor, willing to
>give up wireless networking, willing to sacrifice battery time, and willing
>to have a Borg-thing hanging off my face.
>
Your "configuration" ("I'm willing to.....") suits me perfectly. The only
exception
is I would be using Linux OS instead.
1) I did some window shopping on the net last night. A Twiddler
costs $200 and an M1 another $500. That's already $700
(and let's ignore airfreight costs for now). I haven't checked out PC104
boards
yet but my follow-up question is: To stay within the <$1000
overall price, how far can the remaining $300 take me?
2) What PC104 boards are you using and what is(are) the website(s)?
3) What design are you using? The VASE Lab Wearable
(http://wearables.essex.ac.uk/spec/wear-spec.html) seem most recent
(updated 19/01/2000) and close to what you have in mind.
4) The MIT Lizzy design also looks good but the website hasn't been updated
since
1998 (http://wearables.www.media.mit.edu/projects/wearables/lizzy/parts.html).
I wonder why. Is the Lizzy design obsolete?
Hungry for information.........
TIA
Shaggy
At 11:18 3/5/00 -0700, Tom Renner wrote:
>On 5/03/2000 9:53 AM, Shaggy Im-erbtham at 
wrote:
>
>> I subscribed to this list a week ago. Most of the messages
>> are technical so I hope this message is not out of place.
>>
>> When I learned about wearable computers, I fell in love
>> with the concept; to own one, better still (if somewhat
>> ambitious), to build one!
>>
>> However, after a reality check, a couple of questions came
>> to mind. I hope you guys won't mind answering them:
>>
>> 1) Is it really feasible to build one's own? Would the scenerio
>> be that in a few months (or years), China and/or Taiwan
>> begin to roll out cheaper, smaller, faster wearables rendering
>> obsolete or cost-prohibitive to build?
>
>While there appears to be some renewed interest in commercial wearable
>packages, my take is that these will remain expensive and suffer from
>generic-itis for some time. If you're waiting for a wearable that is
>super-small, ultra-powerful, wonderfully-cheap, and that has exactly the
>peripherals that you want, don't hold your breath.
>
>In my case, what I REALLY want (high-quality color 1152x870 see-through
>display, zero-learning-curve keyboard interface, Mac OS, G4 performance,
>IEEE 802.11 wireless connectivity, 4 lb or less overall weight, fits in a
>belt pack, all-day batteries, concealable interface elements a la Steve
>Mann, and < $1000 overall price) just ain't happening any time soon.
>
>So, I'm building my own, based upon the elements that are most important to
>me (<$1000 overall price, Mac OS, 4 lb or less overall weight, fits in a
>belt pack). I'm willing to work with existing displays like the M1, willing
>to learn to use the Twiddler, willing to use a slow processor, willing to
>give up wireless networking, willing to sacrifice battery time, and willing
>to have a Borg-thing hanging off my face.
>
>All this because the things that are _most_ important to me in a wearable
>aren't commercially available. I want control over the tradeoffs, and the
>market doesn't have enough variety to offer that control to the consumer,
>yet.
>
>> 3) Would this make sense?
>> To get my toes wet with a low-cost entry, could I start
>> out with a desktop PC and play around with input and
>> output devices like the twiddler and head-mounted
>> displays? Portability would be sacrificed but, like I
>> said, I could get my toes wet before dipping my feet
>> in the water. I assemble my own computers so at least
>> one hurdle is already crossed.
>
>I think that this is an excellent idea. You might also hack a notebook
>computer; that's what I decided to do, first. You get reasonable
>portability, for a somewhat higher price point. There are lots of older
>laptops out there...
>
>Just by being in the field, you gain experience that'll prove valuable
>later. Learning the vagaries of HMDs, and getting comfortable with them, is
>almost guaranteed to remain a useful skill. Same with the Twiddler; it has
>been one of the best input devices for a surprisingly long time, and seems
>likely to continue to be so.
>
>-Tom
>
>
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