DIY Wearable Computer With Head-Up Display

Augmented reality – integrating data from computer and internet sources with everyday life – is showing up more and more lately, as cellphones learn to geotag landmarks and webcams are coaxed into spotting special ID glyphs, but we're still a way off from a true mainstream-commercial head-up display.  MicroPCTalk forum member fiveseven808 decided to take matters into his own hands, and hacked together a wearable computer with the eyepiece from a Myvu Crystal, a Sony UMPC and a Motorola iDEN i425 for cheap, always-on connectivity.

The Myvu Crystal donated one of its 640 x 480 VGA resolution eyepieces, which was strapped to a custom mount on his glasses.  The Sony UX380N outputs via a TV dongle, and there's an extended battery and various Bluetooth peripherals – mouse, folding Bluetooth keyboard, etc – for different types of text and cursor control while on the move.

"I guess my original goal was to design a prototype wearable computing system that is expandable, cheap, compact, yet powerful enough to be used as an every day computer with the possibility of having augmented reality systems and other passive information systems convey useful location based information to the user at all times" fiveseven808

The search is now on for a replacement UMPC, as the UX380 involved in the project has since died.  No word on how much all this cost to put together, nor how usable it is on the move, but we're promised a full interview with fiveseven808 soon.

[via UMPCPortal]