Welcome to the world of personal heads up displays...

[Data Holmes]

Get Ready for iShades 5G Wireless access, video display, 3D visualization and more
Written By: Surfdaddy Orca

http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/virtual-reality/get-ready-ishades-5g

ntroducing iShades 5G. With fast 5G wireless technology, 3D GPS mapping, support for personal DVD/HDTV, Google Virtual Earth 3D, and instant communication anywhere in actual or virtual space, iShades 5G puts an RGB-layered holographic optical element at your fingertips. It provides completely clear see-through operation for applications that require data reference while you keep your hands on the job. iShades 5G. Chic and wraparound, they define what a wearable heads-up display can do.



No, you can’t actually go out and buy a pair of these today. (And yes, I made up the 5G part.) But imagine wearing your smart phone or iPod within a pair of sunglasses. SBG Labs, an optical technology company in Sunnyvale, California, is among the businesses developing prototypes for such heads-up displays – stylish wraparounds that look like something from a cyberpunk novel.

This is a really interesting concept and one I noticed starting to appear in a lot of sci-fi fiction around 2000 or so. I think it's a really cool idea. to have basically a computer "layer" over your vision which can display anything and everything a computer could do. Acces to realtime maps/directions/gps, mobile internet, communications media like news, tv, movies.


Very cool stuff.

 

[Marc]

There was question on slashdot the other day about why were VR headsets still only low resolution (640x480) so the question would be whether the device above would increase that. In fact you'd think that it would be a given that they talk about the HDTV.

 

[sojourner]

Like power from fusion reactors, this is one of those things that is perpetually "just around the corner". Display technology still has a long way to go before we have something capable of what the above article says. And until it reaches a point where the style of the glasses can take precedent over the function of the glasses, no one will buy them. (well, maybe people who read these forums, but not people in general)

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I wonder if this device will pose additional privacy issues...

CuttingEdge100

 

[CuttingEdge100]

I remember hearing of a similar device being developed which was called the "Sixth Sense" which one of the worries about it was regarding privacy.