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In November, 1999 IBM introduced a prototype of the world's smallest computer with "full screen" capability. The main unit of the wearable PC is roughly the same size as a personal portable stereo. The "screen" is a 1/4" viewer worn 1 1/5" from the eye. The screen gives the illusion of a full-size display without impairing depth perception or lateral vision. The screen is a monocle that fits over one eye.
Japanese camera maker Olympus and the Japanese
unit of IBM came out with a prototype of the 'Wearable PC on Friday, November
26, 1999.
The companies jointly developed the machine
for those who can't be bothered to carry laptops around and want to wear
their computers instead.
The 13 ounce computer has an Intel Pentium processor, 64 megabytes of memory and runs the Microsoft Windows operating system. The screen flips out from a headset and covers one eye, projecting the image of a much larger monitor. A banana shaped handle with a touch pad and two buttons is used to select icons in the ''Eye Trek'' virtual screen.
More effort is needed to shrink and test the technology. The device has a high gee whiz factor, something IBM highlights in company commercials featuring a young man sitting alone in a park full of pigeons, screaming stock orders into the wearable PC's headset.
Inside View of IBM Wearable PC
Related Resources and Links
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/review/crg639.htm
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CNET/cnet_wearablePC991220.html
http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,3679,2598962,00.html
http://www.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,17487,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_538000/538072.stm