Re: VR (yawn), AR (hmm) was Re: Sexbots??

Michael M. Butler (butler@comp-lib.org)
Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:39:56 -0800

> yea, i grok the part about the lightweight and unintrusive retinal
>projecters, but what about the wolf ear jazz? thats a new term for me... ill
>search for stuff on it.

Wolf Ears might be a brand name. The basic idea is to augment standard hearing protectors with internal speakers and external microphones, and connect the two with circuitry that can amplify weak sounds, if desired, while limiting the loudest level to (say) 85 dB. I've got a pair (somewhere) and they do help, but they're bulky and a little "dead".
Getting good stereo imaging and front-rear disambiguation would probably require some more engineering & signal processing.

>> I also want 24/7 record capability with "911"-style parallel
>> playback-while-record for all channels. That's SMOPD. Ana-Digi cellphone
>> with silent cuing? Naturalamente.
>
> i agree; setting this stuff up wouldnt be a big problem. might make the
>whole video-phone field of ideas finally take off...

I'm thinking "human memory prosthesis"/"fully documented life". :)

>> Trackballs drift; I'd suggest a Cat trackpad.
>
> never heard of the cat trackpad. ill look around tho.

Here are some keywords to try: Alps Glidepoint trackpad :)

...> Some could be built into a
>> vest or shirt yoke today. Some are being prototyped for the military right
>> now.
>
> yea, ive heard rumors to that effect. got any references for me to mull?

http://www.ida.org/MEMS/TBESC/sld015.htm and associated pages.

I've lost my old links to the stuff. The "wearables" group at MIT probably has some info/links.

MMB