wear-hard, Now that everything for my wearable prototype has arrived, I can start putting the software pieces together: http://mavra.perilith.com/~vito/photos/wearable1.jpg http://mavra.perilith.com/~vito/photos/wearable2.jpg A Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 is the processor. Off the serial port hangs a Decade Engineering XBOB serial NTSC character generator, which gives the Ingineo Eyetop HMD a 40x16 text display. Out of the CF slot comes a Ratoc CompactFlash USB host adapter, which drives a Frogpad keyboard, and will also drive an Essential Reality P5 Glove (not pictured as I don't have a small enough USB hub yet). The Zaurus whittles down to a CPU board 3/4 the length and half the height of the full PDA (although it's desirable to not take it apart so you can occasionally use the display for other things). The BOB-3 chip the XBOB is based around can be wired up directly to the serial port (as Ralf Ackermann did with the BOB-II), and I expect the Eyetop driver unit will be able to shrink substantially once the built-in battery pack is removed and power is provided by the separate battery pack I'll have. The P5 glove also disassembles well, and I plan to use it for cursor control when I'm not using the Frogpad: the index and middle fingers will each control either the X or Y axis, and thumb will select. Ring and pinky fingers may change modes, be "back" or "escape," or may be idle. Additionally, I have a set of bone-conduction headphones from Dowumi for audio prompts. I may replace it with one with a microphone, or get a separate bone conduction mic. Finally, it'd be nice if I could get the XBOB transmitting to the Eyetop over a wireless RS232 module, and the Zaurus broadcasting audio to the headset over Bluetooth or somesuch, but then I need a pendant power pack of sorts around my neck to drive them both, and I'm not sure that's worth it. I think the whole assembly is a very cost-effective wearable prototype system. Sure, it's text-only, but there's no easier way to drive an HMD display. Until graphical apps with wearable-tailored UIs come about (think Palm versus early WinCE), and the price drops dramatically for higher-resolution displays, I believe an M1, AV-1 or Eyetop paired with (easier/faster to develop) text-based interfaces is going to be the most efficient choice. A 3.5" SBC or PC/104-based unit still requires so much custom supporting hardware, even if it often provides built-in video output for GUI development. The only thing I don't actually know, is if the Zaurus boots properly when it's disassembled. Thanks, Vito -- 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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