Hello again Wear-Hard... Casio "wrist camera" has been around since early 2001. Your choice of plastic or metal band, the watch is not alltogether big but crams in a video camera, 120 x 120 greyscale LCD and infra-red comms. Maybe someone on the list is interested in picking up one of these (the article below mentions US$200 but I saw one go on eBay for AU$60 (approx US$30)). The IR transciever is probably unexciting and easily interfaced. **maybe** the camera puts out a video signal and **maybe** the LCD accepts a video signal with some processing in-between. If this were the case then it could be VERY interesting as a wireless display and capture device. Problems: a) Most likely the image sensor is in fact only a CMOS RAM chip with the top cut off and the interface is as digital signals to a proprietary LCD controller. No video signals in sight. You have to be in it to win it though, perhaps the LCD would still be interfaceable. If you were lucky there might be a code on the processor in there and a datasheet on the web. On the other hand there might instead be a small black epoxy blob. b) Capture at 176 x 144 (this is 1/4 of a PAL) (albeit colour) is good for recording faces at low res, not much else. Not really useful for wearable apps but it is small. The only possible "use" I can think of is scanning... I remember hand-held scanners about 10cm wide that you would wipe down an A4 page and the software would assemble the stripes in the right places. Clever image processing might be able to take a video signal from the camera being waved over a page, but it would have to be pretty damn clever. c) Display in monochrome at 120 x 120 is even less useful. I wonder how much text you could fit on that? Perhaps it could be useful as a secondary display device when you don't want to be wearing an HMD d) If problem a) is overcome then the watch might have to become a little bigger to accomodate a socket and / or additional electronics. This may or may not be an issue. e) If it were wireless then I suspect comms and constant camera / LCD use would nail batteries quickly. If we were lucky enough to find video signals inside then a tiny 4 connector plug and socket could provide gnd, video signal in, video signal out, and vcc. A tiny 6 connector plug and socket could add serial RX and TX to control the IR. http://www.techextreme.com/perl/story/15167.html <a href src="http://www.techextreme.com/perl/story/15167.html">http://www.techextreme.com/perl/story/15167.html</a> Kind Regards, Nick UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER ======================================================================== This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. ======================================================================== -- Subscription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org Please, *PLEASE* don't subscribe through a forward/expander/false domain
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