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Wearable Video iPod Display

I still can't look at that picture without busting up!

m-dogg said:
It sure does say cool...

Man, I'd be the COOLEST dork in school with that!!! I bet it would match my headgear nice too!!!
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Thank you for putting that picture up in this post again, I'm dying over here!

Are you sure this isn't part of a Saturday Night Live commercial, a headset that lets you watch behind you so you don't get "pantsed" or something. The voice over proclaiming, "Now hind sight really is 20/20"

I can't stop laughing....everytime I see the look on that dude's face, the 3 pound black brick on the back of the iPod, and that thing wrapping across his forehead. Truly the next generation of reality!

See how he holds it up? Just like the "hands free" cable/earpiece on a cell phone. Does anyone know why people buy a hands-free, then hold it up in front of them while they walk like its a compass on an orienteering course?

I can just see some gimp wandering down the street with this menagerie strapped to his head, holding that brick up in front of him like a homing beacon locator, and all those cables/earbuds attached to his head.

This guy HAS to get together with the prosthetic dog nuts guy and come up with something!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9615545/ Great minds.....
 
This site really reminds me of Slashdot sometimes. Nobody wants to RTFA or, failing that, google for more information -- they just want to spout off like they're the first people to think of the crippling shortcoming to a given piece of machinery.

1. It's not going to make your eyes sore. You have to focus at a point a couple meters away in order to see the image clearly. Just like watching TV.

2. You're not supposed to be staggering around Frat Row wearing one of these things. It's for situations like extended airplane travel, chilling in a living room and watching Dark Side of the Rainbow or Echoes of the Infinite, and so on. You don't carry a bigscreen TV to the supermarket, so why in the hell would you wear this there?

3. I hate to tell you, but the only reason this looks greatly more idiotic than headphones is because you're used to seeing headphones everywhere. Audiophiles' headphones still look idiotic -- but the people wearing them don't give a ****.
gifts-and-gift-baskets_1873_28434851


4. The only serious problem that I see with it is the source resolution -- 320x240 (or whatever the iPod video resolution is) is not something I want to see blown up to 105". I'd expect, since 320x240 is old tech for wearable displays, that this device is at least nominally forward-compatible. Another possibility is that the finished version will have video-decoding capabilities of its own and use the iPod merely for storage, in which case it could play movies at a substantially higher resolution.

I've wanted a wearable display ever since I saw the LCD shutterglasses that could be used with a couple of the SGI machines. Then, as now, cost is prohibitive, but the more people buy them, the higher the chance that I can get a pair off eBay for a reasonable amount.
 
You guys complaining about having to focus on something that close to your eyes and trying to blow up low res info to 105" are not understanding this thing properly.

Focusing on it that close to your eyes is not a problem. It's just like looking through night vision goggles which are nothing more than two 1" sceens about an inch from your eyes. You set them properly and forget it. It's not a big deal.

As for the resolution, no one is puting 320x240 on a 105" screen. It says that it is comparable to watching a 105" screen from 20 feet away. It is kind of like squashing peoples heads between your thumb and pointer finger.

Finally, the geeky look . . . I have to agree with you all there. Of course, like someone else said earlier, headphones used to have the same effect too. So who knows.
 
d.perel said:
That would be pretty sweet for an airplane ride or something, but I don't think the whole concept of wearable tv visors is new
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I'd much prefer something like this:

MoviePlayeriPod.jpg


A portable 7" LCD screen with an extra battery pack for your ipod would be sweet. But before that happens, I'd like Apple to increase the video-out resolution to at least VGA quality.
 
dornoforpyros said:
ummm if it's "hands free" than how are you suppose to...oh never mind
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Um. Wow. I don't... get that. Agh. I feel so dumb and... stupid. :( :eek: :) But no, seriously, I don't get it... :eek:
 
Ok don't want to be a downer or anything but why is this on the front page? It has nothing to do with Apple. It's just some lame complay with a lame product that I can't see anyone purchasing.

Was this already answeared? I just got here.:p
 
WeBleed4Real said:
450ipodscreen_garyjones.jpg


That just has "COOL" written all over it, doesn't it? ;)

Everyone say it with me..."Resistance is FUTILE!!!"
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One of the first posters asked why it was only one eye... Well, after seeing the picture from the Seattle PI newspaper I'm glad that it is. Can you imagine trying to lift your head if the thing had 2 screens...

My guess is that some slime-ball lawyer(s) somewhere are already greasing their palms and licking their hair (or would that be vice-versa) anticipating the RSI lawsuits over "Screen-Leaning Neck-Strain Syndrome" (SLNSS - pronounced "Silliness")...
 
bmoorhouse said:
You guys complaining about having to focus on something that close to your eyes and trying to blow up low res info to 105" are not understanding this thing properly.

Focusing on it that close to your eyes is not a problem. It's just like looking through night vision goggles which are nothing more than two 1" sceens about an inch from your eyes. You set them properly and forget it. It's not a big deal.
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Have you looked at the photo of this guy? You would not be looking at TWO 1" screens... you'll be looking at ONE 1" screen. That does create an issue of focusing, when you understand it properly. :rolleyes:

Do me a favor, flip open your cell phone... hold the LCD about an inch from your eye and open both eyes... can you focus on the screen?

bmoorhouse said:
As for the resolution, no one is puting 320x240 on a 105" screen. It says that it is comparable to watching a 105" screen from 20 feet away. It is kind of like squashing peoples heads between your thumb and pointer finger.
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By that same notion, it'd be the same as a 1050" screen that's 200 feet away. Who cares? The source resolution is still 320x240. It's nothing like squashing peoples heads between your fingers... they're using a multiplier to make it seem less crappy. Lying with ratios.

In fact, this example has one other subtle inconsitency. A 105" screen that's 20ft away can be seen with both eyes. This thing sucks. Wastland this trash, please.
 
bmoorhouse said:
I would definitely agree. Until now, however, the company has been building this thing to military specs, so it didn't matter. Now that they are going to start selling it to consumers, they need to figure out how to get the screen into a pair of sunglasses, which would look normal. . . . Now something like that might have a chance.
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They should work with Oakley - now that would be cool design...

But why stop there; give it "translucent gradient lenses", so they double as sun glasses, darkening as you go outside. And if they're OLEDs (not LCDs) you don't have to worry about backlighting. Just add some control-software so the video pauses and the screen-image fades when you want to look at something in the "outside world".

I can see some intrepid scammers trying to get a seeing-eye dog so they can just watch videos wherever they go... I hope they don't add "virtual force-feedback" controls, and allow you to play video games... People would think you were having a seizure.....

(Please, no hate mail for that last paragraph!)
 
pknz said:
I think it could have potential if worked on so it looses that geekyness to it, that guy is holding a large brick behind the iPod too.

I just wonder how well an eye could focus on a screen that close to it, and whether that would entail more health issues have a screen so close.

But 105"!!!!:eek:
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The side effects make me think of Hot Shots (1st one), starring Charlie Sheen, where John Cryar's character has "Walleye Vision"... A lot of people will be buying the optional Michelin Man suit.
 
WildCowboy said:
Is this thing any better than Sony's Glasstron? I know that covered both eyes, but Sony did essentially the same thing years ago and it completely bombed.
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I'm happy somebody remembered the Glasstron!
 
atari1356 said:
Here's a fun image taken from their website:

photo_inset2.jpg


(underneath the image it had the caption "DO NOT DRIVE while wearing the Z800 3DVisor ...or use your hair dryer in the shower."... well, duh... but then again, that guy looks like he's having so much fun driving while wearing it, if I had one I think I'd have to take it for a spin ;) )
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Yeah, well let's also hope that he's not playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas while he's behind the wheel...
 
neutrino23 said:
Those look really nice. Reminiscent of Geordi's visor in STNG.
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Sorry to be an asP, but I kinda-sorta-really hope you had to at least Google the spelling of "Geordi" from STNG... Especially when we're dealing with a product that looks so "Borg-esque"...
 
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